I thought I had started this thread 1 or 2 yrs ago, but apparently I did not (after searching through the archives).
I just finished painting my entire living room for the second time in 18 months - this time from green-gray to a more neutral off-white. Would like to hear what kind of art/objects you have hanging on your walls, for ideas and inspiration.
Right now, I have nothing on my off-white walls, other than a George Nelson multi-colored star clock from Vitra, which I love.
Not much
I'm not a huge fan of wall art. I tend to like sculptural art better. But I've got a few photos of places we've been, a couple of japanese watercolors and these cool carved bamboo roots that are faces. They are from Indonesia, I think, and are supposed to be ancestors protecting you from evil spirits. Actually now that I think on it most of my art that hangs is japanese/asian/indonesian.
On my walls..
I have a dot painting which i bought years ago from a business colleague,a pair of Brazier/Jones Olympias from originindesign ,a large 18thc pier glass which i love as its really ornate and contrasts with the rest of my bareish home and a wirework lifesize man which was a gift.Thats it, the rest is decaying whiteish plaster.Oh and a clock which doesnt work but it looks nice.
I have art of artists who remind me of one thing or another...
So I necessarily have prints of famous artists, and a few originals of lesser ones.
I have Picasso's crazy king to remind me of my short comings, whenever my wife is not around to do so. 🙂
I have a Raul Dufy print of boats on a water front in France to remind me that America can do much better tending to its looks.
I have an original watercolor of San Miguel de Allende to remind me that a part of me is still formed by the Beats even though San Miguel de Allende is now a retirement haunt for artists who didn't crash the top. Ironically, its by an artist, Richard Morton, spent his life in the military as an illustrator of military history.
I have a positively hideous Milton Avery flow pen drawing that I like because it must have been one of Mr. Avery's first efforts after having his stroke. It reminds me of my mortality.
I have an oil painting of the L-train street scene in bitter winter by a Hollywood director of B movies that reminds me of how cold and hard life can get, lest I forget in sunny California.
I have an original print, I believe you would call it, by Kandinsky, which reminds me that I learned what little I know about aesthetics from reading a couple of Kandinsky's books on aesthetics.
I also have a picture of Santa Barbara by one of the painters in a local school of landscape painters who specialize in capturing the rather distinct quality of the light in southern/central California.
But if truth be told, the art on my walls I look at most are the framed pictures of my wife and son. Call me sentimental.
I suppose it wouldn't show well in Dwell, but it works for me.
I'm such a sucker for Pop...
I'm such a sucker for Pop and Op Art and I collect signed/numberd silkscreens of various artists.
In my small flat I have 10 by Victor Vasarely, 1 by his son Jean-Pierre Vasarely (aka Yvaral) and 1 by my favourite Pop Art artist, Nicholas Krushenick. Right now I'm saving up to by a signed silkscreen by Robert Indiana and a rare exhibition silkscreen by James Rosenquist. I also have a fabric screenprint by one of my favourite designers, Alexander Girard, in my bedroom.
Personally
I love landscape/nature art - paintings or photographs. One of my favorite nature photographers is Thomas Mangelsen.
My partner, on the other hand, likes bold abstract art with bright Mediterranean colors, e.g., oranges and yellows. I prefer art that is a more subtle and serene.
I think the difficulty I'm having is finding something that we'll both be happy with. (I've made more than my share of bad and, in some cases, expensive, purchases over the last three years.)
AZCHICK...
You make a very interesting point. You have spurred an idea in me and I wonder if you would comment on it. I do agree that wall art can really mess up a well designed modernist space in which a skillful architect/designer worked with a rigorous form language to combine walls, windows, floor, ceiling, stairways, etc. to create a beautifully sculpted environment. What would you say to having the architect/designer actually design in recessed sockets for paintings that actually contributed to overall effect of the sculpted space. And then the person with the painting embedds the painting flush with the wall and receptical is plastered and sized to fit the painting. The paintings could then bring an almost mural or fresco like quality to the space and occur in locations designed in by the designer of the space. The same could be done with flat panel televisions. It could all be both tidy and contributory to the overall design of the space, rather than breaking it up as you rightly say.
this thread aroused my...
this thread aroused my curiosity as to what u/guys think of this large piece of art i got at an auction. it is signed and dated 2/77..guests are always trying to figure ou what the dark object is.
i have a little bit of everything in my home, i buy what appeals to me for the moment, and keep rotating.
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