Mortal Idol

This painting started with a laurel crown made of gold, displayed at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC. It probably was worn by a Roman Emperor with the title of Augustus meaning the elevated or divine one, somewhat less than a god but approaching divinity. It's a step lower than what was bestowed on Egyptian rulers, but I would be plenty happy with it already. Nevertheless, each direct descendant of a God that came to rule and/or convert the Earth, died just the same as all other ordinary creatures, no exceptions. What happened there?
As such, I placed a stylized adaptation of that beautiful and finely crafted laurel crown on a human skull, between the inscriptions God Is Dead, and There Is No God, loosely derived from the traditional British procalamation: The King is dead. Long live the King (which actually originated in France in 1422). The black background and crossed bones can be interpreted as symbolizing the collapse of a rich civilisation, freefalling into the Dark Ages; as a warning of the increasing fragility of our current lifestyles. There you have it.

God Is Dead   mixed media   10" X 8"   Chris De Dier
available from the artist. call for pricing. http://www.chrisdedier.com/

Bovine God

Popular belief - voluntary or enforced - decides the faith in and of individual gods. Through the ages, they've come and gone like so many human celebrities, albeit with a longer lifespan. Their religions share similar characteristics with languages in how they evolve, merge, split into different factions, adopt alien influences, eventually disappear into forgotten meaning and importance, etc.
Religious iconography is distinctively interesting and often quite creative. Ancient cultures in particular had fun with it. It has become a rather stagnant art in our time.
I have used imagery of such artifacts in some of my work, not in an attempt to make any particular statement, but to use the same creative origin in different variations. Bovine deities have held important positions in different cultures. Here is my own version of one... a divine decapitated bull's head hovers in a starred golden sky, bleeding liquid gold, filling a calm ocean below, thus creating a new world... as good as any other story.

On The First Night God Bled Gold   mixed media on paper   10" X 8"   Chris De Dier
available from the artist. call for pricing. http://www.chrisdedier.com/

A Different View On A View

Same subject and basically same composition as the smaller painting in the preceding post directly below,... different treatment. In this larger format, I emphasized the formality and order of the landscape design and how its intelligently studied proportions manage to perfectly harmonize with nature. That is exactly why this view gained so much fame and continues to draw admiration through the centuries: great art is timeless.
This painting captures the landscape designer's intent by offereing a softer view than the smaller study provided.
The view is from the upstairs rooms at the Palais de Versailles.

The View   oil on canvas   30" X 40"   Chris De Dier
available from the artist. call for pricing. http://www.chrisdedier.com/

Civilized Garden

Even after more than 300 years since its conception, one can only admire the composed grand vista offered by the "backyard" of the Palais de Versailles.
At the time when it was designed and created, the immensity of the project was supposed to underscore the control that humankind held over nature and how harnessing wild forest into symmetry and order reflected the power of king and government. Seen under the vastness of a hot summer sky, however, it shows that nature still prevails.

Les Jardins de Versailles I   oil on panel   8" X 10"   Chris De Dier
available from the artist. US$225.00 + $20.00 s/h

Opium Anyone?

Don't get excited... or nervous, depending on your inclination.  This is only announcing a painting of an immense field with poppies and a distant mountain range on the horizon. And as usual in my work, it's not as much about the subject as it is a study or composition of eroding forms and colors under heavy atmospheric conditions; another perfect example of what I mean by painting transitive blinks.

Poppy Fields   oil on canvas   36" X 36"   Chris De Dier
available from the artist. call for pricing. http://www.chrisdedier.com/

The Biggest Loser

Blame it on the economy, I guess? This commissioned painting hung for almost 2 months in the lobby of a newly renovated office building in downtown Austin until it became clear that the invoice wasn't going to be paid. As many businesses and self-employed people remain in surival mode, it was no pleasant news that this long anticipated sale wasn't going to materialize. However, in the end it remains to be seen who lost the most. No doubt the painting will eventually find another happy home, but what will ever happen to that wall?

Pebbles, in its intended space, was created after consultation with the interior designer to harmonize
with the planned materials and furnishings. I heard it will be replaced with a plant. 

Pebbles   oil on canvas   60"x60"   Chris De Dier
available from the artist. call for pricing. http://www.chrisdedier.com/

The Devil's Saddle

Montclus is a well-preserved medieval village in Provence in the valley of the river Ceze, about 150 km northwest of Marseille. The village is situated on a hilltop by the river and surounded by dense woods. Across the river starts a trail that leads up into the hills. It's a good hike to reach the edge of this cliff, the highest point in the area, that offers a great view. I liked the dense fog that caused a sense of mystery and a feeling of being transformed to another time.

Devil's Saddle   oil on canvas 48" X 48"   Chris De Dier
available from the artist. call for pricing. http://www.chrisdedier.com/

Mural, Mural On The Wall...

Not my first mural, but the debut in Austin, TX. This project consisted of painting the background for a sign at the entrance of a local architecture and design firm. I deliberately chose to keep the contrast low in order to allow the sign - a giant "hi" - to speak out prominently, rather than to compete with it for attention; and to subtly blend the freeform airy clouds into the sleek, elegant contemporary space.

View of the finished mural before installation of the sign.

Finished with sign.

My little helper Paolo looks on while I take a picture.

Back Issue

The last 12 months have been rough. With the collapse of the economy, my financial and creative resources dried up and in hindsight it feels as if since the beginning of 2009 I've been crawling through a dark and austere desert with dusty thoughts and dehydrated foresight obscuring my direction. For the record, let it be known that I don't function well as a starving artist. Lately though I seem to have reached a small but green and sunnier oasis thanks to a few sales. No idea yet if the well can provide enough to keep me going, but at least I have renewed inspiration and ideas. I gave this blog a fresh look and changed its title to coordinate it with my website and I will add a link to an online store very soon. Visitors and fans will be able to purchase prints and small paintings at very attractive prices, and I may occasionally offer promotions on some older works that have been part of my private collection. It feels good to be back on track!

Apollo's Fountain

In this small painting of three of Apollo's horses pulling the chariot while Triton blowing on his conch shell paves the way through the Bassin d'Apollon - Apollo's Fountain - outside the Palais de Versailles, France, the fountain is in full operation spewing water up in the air and forming dense curtains of rain all around and over the sculpture, reducing its forms to dark silhouettes.

Apollo's Horses   mixed media on panel   8.5" X 8.5"   Chris De Dier
available from the artist. US$195.00 + $20.00 s/h.

Ping, Pong

It is hard to imagine that during the 17th Century the Classical inspiration of the gardens-facing facade of the Chateau de Versailles sparked as much buzz about its inventiveness as the most advanced architectural creations of our time. What is modern at any point in time isn't so for very long. Modern means: of the latest most advanced kind. It relates to using ideas and techniques that have only recently been developed and may still be considered experimental. Two random architectural examples of that fleeting definition are portrayed here. On the left are pictures of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and on the right of the Chateau de Versailles. They were planned and constructed roughly 4 centuries apart. Both buildings represent a new, daring aesthetic at their time and were considered very modern. Both received a lot of attention, were praised and critisized as groundbreaking designs that strayed from traditional styles. Though the Walt Disney Concert Hall can still hold on to the definition of being modern, the Palais de Versailles has long lost it's new, innovative and trendsetting aura. It won't be long before the Walt Disney Concert Hall follows the same fate. Versailles became the undisputed leading example of a new worldwide movement in style. Only history will tell if the Walt Disney Hall and its variations will create the same effect. The big difference between these two examples is that one was a modern adaptation of solid Classical architecture, while the other - in sharp contrast -is entirely abstract in concept.

The King's Painter

Charles Le Brun (1619 -1690) was an important artist in his time. He was co-founder of the Academie des Peintres et Sculpteurs in 1648 and later became Louis XIV's favorite painter. The king ennobled Le Brun and gave him the title Premier Peintre du Roi. He was placed in charge of the royal collections and became director of the gobelin studios. He is responsible for the paintings and interior design of the Gallerie des Glaces and the Salons de la Guerre et de la Paix at Versailles. Le Brun's work is highly appreciated. Not only a respected painter, as architect he was also closely involved with the building projects of Louis XIV. Nevertheless he left little influence. This is because he subjected his style entirely to the glorification of absolutism. His effectively composed scenes are seen more as admirable documents of historic events than as the individual style of an artist.

Picasso

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up" - Pablo Picasso




Nude Standing by the Sea 1929 oil on canvas Pablo Picasso Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

Cars Can Be Artfully Too

The financial difficulties that the American automakers are experiencing today is by their own choice. For years they have been fooling the public into believing that there was no interest in hybrid or electric cars, while they continued promoting the giant gas guzzling monster cars that they put on the market. Nobody wants them. People bought them simply because there was no choice. Proof that it can be different are these models by Toyota, on display at their showroom on the Champs Elysees in Paris. The design of these cars is appealing. So much so that people were lining up for a chance to admire them up close.

Moderation

This small painting is minimalist in subject and color range, yet complex in texture and glazing. It is one of my current favorites.

Seaworld   oil on panel   8" X 10"   Chris De Dier
available from the artist. US$225.00 + $20.00 s/h

Art Auction

In preparation for the annual Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Gala and Silent Art Auction on May 1, 2009, I selected this painting for this year's participation. In 2008 I was able to donate a new painting for this fundraising auction. Lack of time has prevented me to do the same this year. This painting was made in 1997. It is an older work with the subject very appropriate for the occasion. The scenery in this painting is at Canyon Lake, in the Texas Hill Country. It has been part of my personal collection for all this time because this painting formed a milestone towards the development of my current style, where the sky dominates in importance over the landscape.
The Gala and Art Auction are a major fund raiser for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. This is the third year I made a donation to this important institution.

Sunrise - Canyon Lake oil on canvas 30" X 40" Chris De Dier

Ceilings

Contemporary taste has lost affection for elaborate ornament. Especially ceilings are the most popular victim to minimalism. Perhaps rightfully so. To turn a ceiling ino a breathtaking work of art takes enormous talent, skill and financial budget. With lack of any of these, it is best left plain and simple. The ceilings pictured in this post are superb examples of a lost art.

Above: Ornate ceilings of different period styles in the Louvre, Paris, France.

Left: Beaux-Arts ceiling in the Louvre, Paris.

Below Center: Frescoed ceiling in the chapel of the Palais de Versailles, France.

Left and above Right: Ceilings in the Palais de Versailles, France.

To the Right: Contemporary ceiling at a restaurant in New York City. This is as much visual interest as todays' low plasterboard ceilings can bear.

Living Statue

... or statue for a living? It certainly can be enjoyable to admire, like this girl near the Notre Dame in Paris. Her costume is beautiful in a cleverly stylized interpretation of 18th Century fashion. Creativity with dress and make-up is as old as Civilization, and at no time more popular and folksy than during the period of Carnival.




Why are our eyes so attracted to people in outrageous dress? And how did fashion, or costume, become such an important medium of expressing ourselves?

Thanks For The Memories

Here is an old picture of the Main Square in Ninove, Belgium. It appears to be taken in the early 20th century - perhaps between 1910 and 1920. I was born in the neo-Renaissance style house with the two tones of brick, that faces the viewer at the far end of the Square. It forms the corner between the Square and the Beverstraat. My parents rented that house after they married. On the ground floor was the store. My mother sold textiles; aprons, tablecloths, ties and underwear. Behind the store were a living room, a small kitchen and a tiny courtyard. Upstairs on the second floor, behind that window that you see there, was my parent's bedroom. That is were it happened. Right there.
My brother was born in that room also, two and a half years later. I still remember that night. It was in the early hours of New Year's Day 1961. The sounds of commotion and moaning woke me up. I crawled out of bed and went to look for my parents. When I opened the door to their bedoom, a half story below where mine was, I saw my mother in bed, covered to her neck by a white sheet that rose up in the air towards her feet. At the footend of the bed was the doctor, seated, and reaching into that white tent. In the corner of the room, the midwife, clad in crisp starched white coat and nurse hat, was busy in a cloud of steam, filling bowls with hot water and arranging clean towels. Both turned and looked up for a moment in my direction, smiled and made a joke. My father held me by the door, allowed me to stay a few minutes before escorting me back to bed. That's all I remember.

At the end of the Beverstraat, beyond view in the picture, was my school where I went for a year before my parents were forced to move. The city had bought the property. The house was soon to be demolished to make room for a new avenue. That was in 1963. I remember walking home from school, hand in hand with my teacher. A big truck was parked in front of our house. It was the mover's. My mother, my little brother and I climbed into the front seat of the truck. I sat beside the driver who drove us to our new home, Nieuwstraat 54 in Aalst, a bigger city 25 km away.

O My!

Yesterday unexpected honorable mentions were bestowed on me for being the first Follower of MyTempO! now. I am grateful and encourage everyone to go check it out. It's a great party. Join me!