Discovering Carleton E. Watkins

My newly discovered artist today is 19^th century photographer, Carleton E. Watkins. Watkins was born in 1829 in upstate New York.  He eventually moved to California to live in the 1860’s. There he fell in love with the western landscape.

Carleton E. Watkins is most known for his conservatory work of Yosemite Valley in California and his contribution to the establishment of National Parks.  Watkins specialized in landscape photography and often experimented in the early years of photography with new equipment.

According to many accounts, during Watkins’ lifetime he experienced a small amount of success as a photographer.  He lost his studio in the San Francisco earth quake and was poor when he died in 1926.   In recent years a photograph among an album of 51 prints, entitled Photographs of the Columbia River and Oregon, was sold an auction for $100,000.  At that time, it was the most expensive property sold at an auction. 

Willard L. Metcalf - Pioneer

Willard L. Metcalf is another newly discovered artist. Although this artist is not well known, he has been credited with being a pioneer of Impressionism.  He specialized in landscape painting.  Metcalf worked with oils, pastels and watercolors.

Metcalf was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1858.  He studied art in Boston and spent a great deal of time working with landscapes.   He studied in France and was influenced by Monet.  While in France, Metcalf learned to paint en plein air. After returning to America, Willard Metcalf he began merging his old with his new influences.  This resulted in what some believe is the most important framework for American Impressionism.

Metcalf’s New England landscapes are considered to be his best work.  Although I admire many of his New England landscapes, my favorite painting by Metcalf is Indian Summer, Vermont.  This oil on canvas was created in 1922 and resides at the Dallas Museum of Art.    I love the brilliant use of color and brushwork.

Willard L. Metcalf’s paintings are often exhibited in galleries. Like many great artist, his work seems to be timeless.

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Emil Bisttram

My new recently discovered artist today is Emil Bisttram. Bisttram was born in Hungry and moved to America in 1895. This artist is most noted for his work created in Santa Fe, and Taos, New Mexico. Bisttram is also credited with being one of the founding members of the Transcendental Painting Group.




Early in his career, Bisttram’s began working with spiritual, scientific, and philosophical themes. Some of his abstract creations involved the use of dynamic symmetry. He later combined this work with various spiritual systems.



Many believe Metropolis to be one of the most significant paintings by Emil Bisttram before he moved to New Mexico. The Metropolis is a large vertical oil painting on canvas.  In this painting, Bisttram used dynamic symmetry.  He included tall triangular buildings in this spectacular painting that represented skyscrapers in New York .



Emil Bisttram was thought to have played a significant role in the development of modernist forms in American art.

Frank Owen Gehry - Architect Designer

Frank Owen Gehry is another great artist I discovered while looking through an exhibition catalog.    This American artist is probably better known for being an architect.  Gehry was extremely creative and used his talents to develop innovative designs.

American architect, Frank Gehry worked with the Formica Corporation in using a new product similar to an earlier Formica called ColorCore. As Gehry experimented with this material he developed something that looked like fish scales.  Later he created lamps in the shape of a fish using this material.  From this discovery he designed Fish Lamp, 1983.

His most important commission was for the fish sculpture created for the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.   This sculpture developed from Gehry's work with the Fish Lamp.  You can also find an installation by Frank Owen Gehry at the Walker Art Center.

Architect, designer, artist, all are words that describe Frank Owen Gehry.  What makes Gehry stand out from many other architects is his design work and artistic  innovations using man-made materials.

Andre Demain - Man of Color

This article continues with my series of artists newly discovered.   The artist chosen for today’s article is Andre Derain.    As previously mentioned these are not necessarily new artist but are individuals previously unknown to me.    Andre Derain was born in Paris and lived from 1880 to 1954.

Although Derain was not as popular,  he is closely associated with Matisse.  Drain was part of the group led by Matisse Fauves.  The Fauvism movement was introduced in 1905 when a group of artists exhibited in a salon.   The work by these artists was new and different for the time and received a great deal of public criticism.  Derain like Matisse was influenced by Cezanne and Gauguin. 

What is interesting about Andre Derain is that he has been given little credit for the Fauvism movement.  Matisse is thought of more closely with this movement.  Derain’s work, however, was more Fauvist before Matisse’s.   He was also an early Cubist.

Derain’s best work was landscapes.  One of his famous paintings, “Big Ben”, depicts how the artist used bright clashing colors with expressive brushstrokes to distort reality.  The painting was created in 1905.  Derain’s work in his later years was influenced by the Old Masters and was not as exciting or colorful.

Discovering George Grosz

The newly discovered artist I am writing about today is George Grosz. As I have mentioned in previous writings these are not necessarily new artist but are individuals previously unknown to me.  Grosz a German born artist but was also a teacher and lived during the time artists expressed their political feelings through their work.  He taught at the Art Students League in New York.

Because he disliked all forms of dictatorial authority, George Grosz left Germany in 1932 before Hitler took over.  Grosz’s work, Ecce Home, a collection of drawings created in 1923 reflected his responses during World War I.  Some would say that some of his work, although political and satirical, was often demeaning.

George Grosz was influenced by Expressionism and Futurism.  Grosz later changed his style of art and subject matter when he came to America.  After 1933, the styles of his artwork seem to soften.  He mostly painted landscapes and traditional nudes. He exhibited often and opened a studio in his home. 

Jean Simeon Chardin

As I continue to write about new artist I have recently discovered, I decided I would report on a artist that lived many years ago.   Today’s artist is Jean Simeon Chardin.  This great master of still-life painting was born at the start of the 18th century in Paris.   His work was widely distributed and he experienced success due to his work.  He has been influential on several later artists.  

What makes Chardin so interesting is that he was very elusive.   It appears he was well known for his art work but not much was known about his personal life.  Chardin had three biographers following his death but none knew much about the painter’s personality.  He was described as simple, straightforward and hardworking.

It could be said that much of Chardin’s paintings were a lot like his life was described.  His paintings were simple domestic interiors with naturalistic renderings of everyday objects.  Late in life Chardin abandoned paintings and created portraits with pastels. Some believe the self-portraits produced by Chardin before his death provided more insight into the man than all of his biographies combined.