Ideas and Concepts

What Gives Them Their Ideas?


SALVADOR DALI
Salvador Dali is an artist from Spain who has his own unique method of coming up with ideas for artwork. This method is something he calls "Paranoiac Critical" in which he thinks completely outside of the box by simulating paranoia. By this, he means to find the odd and unseen things within everyday things, such as seeing animals or monsters within clouds, for example.

The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali.














LEONARDO DA VINCI
Leonardo Da Vinci, the genius artist/scientist/inventor. As he was unable to attend any form of educational practice due to his parents' shame, he could not read many texts that he would need to read in order to find out the things he needed to know to make his creations. This deficiency may well have turned out to be a proficiency as due to this, he decided instead to go out and study the things he needed. By doing this, he gained a deep understanding of how things worked, therefore knowing more than most people in this field.

Da Vinci's concept of what could be an early version of the helicopter, in the 15th Century.














FRIEDENSREICH HUNDERTWASSER
Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian architect. Hundertwasser believed that the straight line is 'immoral' and from this alone it can be safe to say that he was not the most normal person in the world. He prided himself on saying that he could make the most 'ugly' of architecture look nice and good, and a lot of the time his work, whilst controversial sometimes, does fulfil his means.

Hundertwasser's Hunderwasserhaus, built in the '50s by him and Joseph Krawina.

















ANDY WARHOL
Andy Warhol, American artist. Warhol was inspired by his religion. He was a Byzantine Catholic, and the iconography of the religion. In a way, he managed to make popular figures, such as celebrities' faces, into iconic figures just like his religion had symbols. This was an inspiration to him because it gave him something to go for.

This is a piece of artwork that Warhol painted. It is Marilyn Monroe as some kind of long-necked snake thing.

















FRANCIS BACON
Francis Bacon was born in Dublin in Dublin, Ireland, on October 1909. His work was mainly but loosely based on surrealist art and abstraction, drawing inspiration from that style. This was not successful, so in 1944 he destroyed all of his artwork up to that date and decided on a different style. He wanted to shock people with his art, which succeeded, and he became known for his shocking imagery.

This is Pope Innocent X by Francis Bacon. Its shocking look was based on his idea that he wanted to create bizarre imagery and is a kind of mutation of the Pope Innocent X painting by Velazquez.















AUGUST MACKE
August Macke was a German expressionist artist and one of the leaders of Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). He got some influence from the modern arts movements within the Parisian avant-garde. Later, he met the Chromatic Cubist artist Robert Delaunay and his work from then on was somewhat influenced by Delaunay.

This is August Macke's self-portrait. It is very detailed and seems to be show that, by the background, he may be an emotional guy. The background shows this because it is dark and gloomy-looking.

PABLO PICASSO

Picasso was influenced by many things in his life. He was influenced by various world art like African and Greek art. He was also later influenced by world events and the woman he loved. During the Korean war he painted the Massacre in Korea which depicts North Koreans being killed by Americans and/or South Koreans.

CLAUDE MONET

Claude Monet was influenced majorly by John Constable and J.M.W. Turner when he visited a London museum in 1870.

These influences can be seen in his Soleil Levant (meaning Impression, Sunrise) - which is dated 1872 -where he used the image of sunlight passing through the fog, similar to Constable and Turner.

CHUCK CLOSE

Chuck Close (born Charles Thomas Close) was an American painter and photographer born in 1940 and is still alive today. He based his paintings and photos on people he knew (friends and family) and, using the photorealistic technique, made his work. Close believes "inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you’re not going to make an awful lot of work". He therefore does not have any influences and simply does what he wants to do. Below: Close's Mark, 1978-1979.

DONATELLO

Donatello was an Italian sculptor, who worked within the 1400s. Donatello was mainly inspired by Classical figured, nudes and antiquity. He sculpted nudes and classical figures because they inspired him. His inspiration of/by antiquities was because of a trip he took to Rome to study some ruins. 

On top of these influences, he was influenced by some other artists, namely Brunelleschi and Ghiberti. The below sculpture is Donatello's, take on David (1408-1409). 

WAYNE THIEBAUD

Wayne Thiebaud is an American painter. He specialises in Pop Art, and paintings of cakes and other common items. He uses heavy pigment and exaggerated colours in his paintings of these items. As a young man, Thiebaud worked in a café and it could be his experience there that made him appreciate certain foods like cakes enough to want to paint them. This is Cakes, 1963.