To call Salvador Dali eccentric might be a bit of an understatement. However, to call the Spanish artist a genius and an innovator would be highly apropos. While he was a part of the Cubist and Dada movements, Dali is best known as a Surrealist and this would define him as well as separate him from other artists of his time. Dali’s art prints & posters nearly stand in a class of their own.

Soft Watch At Moment of First Explosion, c.1954

Dali was born on May 11, 1904 in the small town of Figueres; close to the French border in Catalonia, Spain, to Salvador Dalí and Felipa Domenech Ferrés. Nine months before his arrival, his older brother, who was also named Salvador, died. At the age of five, Salvador was taken to his brother’s grave and told that he was the reincarnation of him. This hypothesis would become truth to Dali. While his father was strict, his mother was warm and encouraged her son to pursue his artwork.

The Birth of Liquid Desires, c.1932

Dali attended drawing school in 1916 and by the next year he had amassed a large enough collection for his first exhibition which was held in the family’s home. Dali’s first public exhibition was held in 1919 at the Municipal Theater in Figueres. Two years later, his beloved mother was stricken with breast cancer and died in February of 1921. This would prove to a defining moment in the young artist’s life and work.

Sleep, c.1937

In 1922 Dali relocated to Madrid where he attended the Academia de San Fernando or School of Fine Arts. Dali wasn’t one to shy away from the spotlight and was already gaining a reputation as an eccentric. Wearing his hair long with sideburns, he adorned his body in costume-like clothing reminiscent of the English dandy’s of the 19th century. It was while attending school that Dali experimented with Cubism which overrode the attention from other students as there were no Cubist artists in Madrid during this time. But it would be his exploration of Dada that would define his later work in Surrealism.

The Sacrament of the Last Supper, c.1955

His arrogance served as the catalyst for his removal from Academia de San Fernando when he proclaimed that not one of his instructors was adept enough to examine his work. Whether this was accurate or not, Dali was becoming an exceptional painter whose work was regarded highly by both fellow students and faculty alike.

In 1926, Dali traveled to Paris and met one of his idols, Pablo Picasso. The already established French artist had already heard about Dali’s work from fellow artist, Joan Miró. Both artists would have a huge influence of Dali’s work over the next several years. However, the young artist drew influences from everywhere. From the classic masters such as Raphael, Bronzino, and Francisco de Zurbaran to the avant-garde movement of the time, Dali left no stone unturned. Often he would combine the two influences in one piece which puzzled critics, but Dali welcomed the controversy.

Three Young Surrealist Women Holding in their Arms

In 1929 he met his future wife, Gala. The Russian immigrant, who was 11 years older that Dali and whom was already married to surrealist poet, Paul Éluard, would serve as his muse. Professionally, he was on the upswing as he had two important exhibitions and joined the Surrealist group in Paris. Having already worked in Surrealism for nearly two years, Dali was dubbed the Paranoiac-critical method of accessing the subconscious for greater artistic creativity by the group.

Meditative Rose, c.1958

Perhaps the most important piece of work he ever painted was La persistencia de la memoria or The Persistence of Memory which depicted a melting pocket watch which many of interpreted as the irrelevance of time. This was surrealism in its greatest form and inspired much debate.

The Persistence of Memory, c.1931

In later years, Dali wasn’t content with just being a painter, but examined with some unusual processes such as Bulletist – an artistic process that involves shooting ink at a blank piece of paper. He was among one of the first artists to use holography and several pieces included optical illusions. Warhol would later refer to Dali as an important influence on pop art.

Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea Which at

In the post World War II period, Dali became more intently involved in Catholicism, but at the same time he was inspired by the bombing of Hiroshima. This was dubbed the Nuclear Mysticism period by the eccentric artist and lead to such work as “The Madonna of Port-Lligat” (first version) (1949) and “Corpus Hypercubus” (1954).

While he was an artist first, like Warhol would become later, Dali was a personality with celebrity status. With his iconic mustache, he was known to pull outrageous stunts such as the 1934 masquerade ball that he and Gala came dressed as the Lindbergh baby and his kidnapper. Then there was the London International Surrealist Exhibition that Dali took part in. His lecture, entitled Fantomes paranoiaques authentiques, was delivered while wearing a deep-sea diving suit.

Bacchanale, c.1939

At the dawn of the 1960s, Dali started work on his most ambitious project of his career, the Dali Theatre and Museum in which he made new contributions well into the 1980s. However, the 80s would also be marked by determinately turn for the worse in Dali’s health when his wife, who by now was near senile, gave his a lethal cocktail of medication leaving his right hand with Parkinson-like trembling which left him unable to work as an artist. At 78 Dali died of an apparent suicide by deliberate dehydration.

The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory, c

Salvador Dali left a body of work that has been examined and reexamined by critics as well as art aficionados. Moreover, he laid the groundwork for many young artists to follow in his footsteps.

Nick Ut/AP: Rick Norsigian holds up a photograph shot by the late photographer Ansel Adams.

Rick Norsigian is one lucky man.

The AP has reported that the glass negatives the California construction worker bought at a garage sale for $45 has been authenticated as lost work by Ansel Adams. The listed price? At least $200 million.

From the article:

A team of experts concluded after an exhaustive, six-month examination that the 65 negatives — which were believed to have been destroyed in a 1937 fire at his Yosemite National Park studio — are Adams’ early work, Arnold Peter said in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Tuesday.

“These photographs are really the missing link,” he said. “They really fill the void in Ansel Adams’ early career.”

Read the full article on NPR here.

The article reports that Rick Norsigian bought the negatives from a garage sale because they contained images of Yosemite, not speculating they were from the famed photographer.

In a related story, Ansel Adams’ grandson, Matthew Adams, has rejected the results of authenticity saying, “All of the evidence presented is circumstantial at best, and hopeful supposition in most instances.” And that,

The number of $200,000,000 that has been suggested by the Norsigian Team is ludicrous. It should be remembered that while there is a good deal of creativity and purpose in the negative, the print is the expression of the artist’s intent. It is the print that carries the value.

Read the full article on NPR here.

Hopefully the matter will be settled soon so the negatives can be enjoyed in their intended form as art prints.

In either case, Rick Norsigian just trumped the Antique Road Show.

So, you’ve got a Facebook Page setup to showcase your art and maybe even opened your own Facebook Art Store. Well here’s another Facebook tip to make your Facebook page even better.

Make your Facebook URL ‘Friendly’

If you haven’t done so already, you should change your Facebook Page URL into a “friendly” URL. By friendly, I mean simple. When you first create a Facebook Page, the URL usually looks pretty long, and definitely not memorable. So, to remedy this, Facebook introduced the option to set a username for your profile and pages.

For example, the Imagekind friendly URL is: http://facebook.com/Imagekind

This is good news for artists for two reasons in particular:

1. Friendly URLs are easier to remember (good for promoting a shorter URL)
2. They’re good for SEO so more people can find your work

To setup your Facebook URL, just click here. Then choose the option to set the username for a page. You should see a drop down list with your Facebook Page.

A few tips: Once you set it, you can’t change it. So choose wisely! Also, as mentioned above, setting your URL is good for SEO, so adding something about art in the username can be a good idea. Here are a few examples:

http://www.facebook.com/ArtistJohnKraft

http://www.facebook.com/GayleFaucetteWisbonArt

You can even use dashes, etc. to separate words, and though it does add to the complexity, it can be good for seo (eg, facebook.com/artist-name-art).

To set your own friendly URL choose your username here: http://www.facebook.com/username

Art Deco is still considered hip after nine decades and counting. The style’s popularity began in the 1920s and lasted until 1940s and affected everything from architecture, interior design and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts and film. While there are various speculations of the origins of the style, it is a safe bet that it began in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century as he name Art Deco was derived from the 1925 “Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs Industriels et Modernes”, held in Paris.

One of the most prominent Art Deco painters was Tamara de Lempicka – who was often referred to as the first woman artist to be a glamour star. Her style was derived from soft cubism artist André Lhote and synthetic cubism artist Maurice Denis. With bold colors and sharp lines, her style was revolutionary and admired by such renowned artists of the time as Georgia O’Keeffe, Santiago Martínez Delgado and Willem de Kooning. However, Lempicka was one of but a handful of artist painting in this genre at the height of the Art Deco movement.

Portrait of a Man by Tamara De Lempicka

Here are some examples of great wall art prints & posters by past masters of Art Deco and those who they inspired:

Maurin Quina, 1920 by Leonetto Cappiello

Often referred to as the father of modern advertising, Leonetto Cappiello was best known for his pioneering poster designs. His first exhibition took place 1892. Cappiello would go on to produce 530 advertising posters in his career.

Vichy-Ses Sources by Roger Broders

French illustrator Roger Broders spent the bulk of his career designing travel posters promoting tourism destinations in France in the early 20th century. His work was unique because of his use of simple lines and bold colors coupled with a graphical angle.

Miami Florida by Peter Kelly

Essex, England born Peter Kelly was well known for his astute use of color in his chic collection of cityscapes. His talents as an illustrator gained the artist assignments with major companies such as Ford, Jaguar, Sony, Heinz, Kellogg’s, Schweppes and British Airways.

Femme Fatale I by Karen Dupre

Contemporary artist, Karen Dupré draws inspiration from 19th century masters Claude Monet, Frederic Remington and Auguste Renoir, but also pays homage to the Art Deco artist from the same time period as she flirts with genre while maintaining an individual style.

Habanas Quality Cigars by Steve Forney

Steve Forney is another contemporary artist/illustrator derives inspiration from past masters of Art Deco. The Oakland, California-based Forney decided after receiving a degree in Political Science in 1991 to pursue his passion for art and has become one of the most successful freelance illustrators of modern time.

1970 Jazz in Paris by Conrad Knutsen

Conrad Knutsen has been a successful commercial illustrator for more than 30 years. His work has been published in many esteemed publications and is exhibited in many galleries across the U.S. Conrad is currently illustrating a series of images for postage stamps for countries around the world.

flapper with purse by EP Holcomb

By her own admission, Seattle-based artist, EP Holcomb is deeply influenced by Art Deco as well as Art Nouveau, 1960′s poster art, and fashion photography.

White Cat by Ken Bailey

Another Seattle-based artist, Ken Bailey paints cats and dogs in an Art Deco style. Many of his art prints are best sellers in the vintage art world even though he is a modern day working artist.

Showcasing one awesome art print each week.

Pol Ledent is a self taught artist, and by the looks of his work, he’s taught himself well. Born and living in Belgium, Pol creates some of the most beautiful oil and watercolor paintings. Bold, colorful, and typically abstract in form, Pol’s art tranfers amazingly to print.

Watercolor 017032 by Pol Ledent