who is your favorite painter and why?

[katia]

i've gone through phases of appreciation that included gustav moreau and arnold bocklin, mainly for their arcane and odd subject matter [in addition to technical excellence]. now, i tend more toward edward hopper, who has an almost blunt, plain method of depiction that is very interior, and emotionally abstract, nonetheless. he visualizes solitude, i'd say.
what about you?

[Keira]

Wow, favorite painters, hard.
I've visited most of world's great museums
and while its easy to dismiss the impressionists as
an easy choice, there's a reason why the haugty aristocrat
and the farm worker both love them.

They really were on to something.
In person, what they did is much more impressive, the color, subject, texture, light, feeling
of the pieces create a sense of life caressing me.
You can stare a Monet painting for an hour (at least I did).

Also, I like Turner's very atmospheric, pre-impressionist paintings (he's seen as one of the precursor of the impressonist movement).

Finally, in the post impressionist, I like Seurat's pointisilism (using points of colors to create a painting).
And Cezane's flat, angular distorted landscapes.

Since all those painters are cornerstones of arts, I'm not exactly breaking new grounds with my preferrences :-).

[katia]

Also, I like Turner's very atmospheric, pre-impressionist paintings (he's seen as one of the precursor of the impressonist movement).

dunno.  although turner had impressionism elements in his paintings, i think it took the collective effort by renoir, monet, sisley and bazille while they were still art students around 1863, to really start impressionism. but you could argue that turner was one of the first to express impressionism.

[Tay]

I have to admit, I know nothing about paintings, but I was priveliged to see Van Gogh originals at an exhibit in Ottawa when I was a child.  The colours and images from those paintings have stayed with me ever since, painting over the memories of many other paintings and pictures I have seen since.

[Lyric]

As a long frustrated artist myself, I've spent countless hours mentally exploring the works of Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Picasso and the other big names. I've always loved Andrew Wyeth for his subtly passionate super realism and drybrush technique. I'd say my passion has always been for the popularly accessible works of illustrators, though. Alfons Mucha's ultra feminine Nuevo ladies, Parrish's often androgynous nudes against fairytale landscapes, Frazetta's magnificiently toned female forms with simplistic faces in exotic surroundings, etc. I look forward to every new issue of Juxtapose to see what new hypertalented punk illustrators they come up with. I check the computer art sites regularly to see what amazing things the Bryce/Poser/Max/Maya/etc. people are doing (3dlinks.com is my favorite).

[Robyn]

Monet for the pastels and the soft, fuzzy landscapes.

Rembrandt for the realism and the detail. 

Robyn

[tinkerbell]

I like Goya especially for his dark, twisted and yet beautiful mind portrayed in his famous black paintings. 


tink

[LostInTime]

Salvador Dali because the artwork was not just thinking outside of the box but throwing it out all together and doing something a bit twisted with the world.

[Pica Pica]

I like turner seascapes, the sea looks alive. I also like Pieter Bruegel the Elder, there is a brightness and clarity in those paintings which requires a long look. A bit like a where's wally book. (or waldo as i believe he was in the us)

[Jeannette]

Gustav Klimt, because he has a unique style and I really like the way he combines decorative, colourful elements with the beautiful naturalistic faces his characters have.

[The Middle Way]

Picasso, because this was a guy with ultimate chops who transcended technique.