William Degouve de Nuncques: Autumn Scenes

 

 

 

 

 

The change of time and the darkness coming so early has me thinking that I should put on my pjs and hunker down under a warm blanket, but it's only 5 PM! I searched for an artist who might have known what autumn feels like. Found! He was William Degouve de Nuncques, (1867-1935) who was a Belgian artist.

 Degouve de Nuncques was an artist who found his own way. He did go to art school for awhile, but preferred to be self-taught. He was influenced with the artists with whom he shared a studio.Those were Dutch artist, Jan Toorop (whose painting of the Crucifixion is the most stylized I've ever seen) and Belgian artist, Henry de Groux.

 For most of his life, he was regarded as a painter of post-impressionist,atmospheric landscapes. That is why he seemed so appropriate for this time of year. 

While his subjects and style changed in the 1900s, partially due to his loss of use of one hand, this blog will be on his works during the time before.

Dmitry Kustanovich: Melding Techniques to Create New

 

The art of Dmitry Kustanovich (1970-) brings to mind the techniques of Van Gogh, as a Post-Impressionist with his use of impasto to create a 3-D effect. Yet, there's also the melding with Pointillism more reminiscent of Seurat or Signac with their daubs. Add to all that, a dynamic sense of movement or immediacy and you have a skilled contemporary artist.

 

 

 

 

A Belarusian by birth, Kustanovich trained in art in his homeland and in Russia. He currently lives in St. Petersburg, where in 2009, he opened the Kustanovich's Gallery as a cultural center. There, evening events include music, creative expression and the artist himself teaching master classes in art. 

 

Getting back to his technique, he is considered to be an originator of not only the amalgam of techniques, but also to accomplish them using palette knives instead of brushes. As he states on why he prefers palette knives, his reply is:

 

 

I model the space with the palette knife expressing its to-day state, its momentous, its current minute. This is my technique. It is emotional. It has its own philosophy. The world expressed through it is manifolded. It is different.

 

All of his originality, combined with recognizable techniques and subjects means that 100 galleries have featured his works over the past 30 years... even in his flora!

 

Édouard Cortès:The Parisian Poet of Painting

Édouard Cortès (1882-1969) was a post-Impressionist painter. Exhibiting just after the Impressionists, the public and art critics were more accepting of this form of painting. After his graduation from the École des Beaux-Artsin Paris, Cortès received recognition at his first exhibition. However, that's not to say that life was  a series of artistic accolades for Cortès.

You see, Cortès' was a pacifist. As with the Impressionist who went to jail or fled for their criticism of the industrial system, Cortès felt the cold grasp of World War I. Even though he was 32 years old and had a family, he was compelled to fight in the infantry. He was injured in battle, but refused the highest French recognition -

Légion d'Honneur.

This man of peace wanted nothing more than to paint the beautiful scenes around him. His most famous and desirable paintings are of Paris. He painted Paris in all seasons. With the exception of the transportation and the fashion, these still show Paris in all its glory. Enjoy this exceptional painter and Paris. (click on image to enlarge)