Trivia Tuesday is a weekly feature where I try and stump our readers with interesting art facts. Test your knowledge of the art world and let’s see if you have what it takes to be an art master.

Question: What famous museum hung Matisse’s ‘Le Bateau’ upside-down for 47 days before an art student noticed the error?

[poll id="21"]

**polls close next Tuesday, 7/7/09 and the correct answer will be shared then.

Last week’s poll answer: #3; Medium

Today is Jackson Pollock’s birthday. Google has a special logo for the day that features his iconic style, reminiscent of his Convergence painting.

Shop Jackson Pollock framed prints on Imagekind

Jackson Pollock Biography

Nicknamed “Jack the Dripper,” Pollock would literally drip paint (of the most toxic variety) on his canvases in order to create his paintings. He was the first action painter, meaning that he would drip, pour, throw and splash his paint onto very large canvases which were often laid flat on the floor of his New York studio. Many say he would dance, as though in a trance, as he created his masterpieces.

Number 18 by Jackson Pollock

Born in 1912, Pollock was one of the most influential American Abstract Expressionist painters. By the time of his death on August 11, 1956, his work and example were exerting an enormous influence on his contemporaries both in the United States and western Europe. He was one of the few American painters to be recognized during his lifetime and afterward as the peer of 20th-century European masters of modern art.

Shop Jackson Pollock framed prints on Imagekind

Create your own Jackson Pollock painting

Visit jacksonpollock.org

Here are some Emily and I made!

Pollock by Nate

Emily Loves Jackson by Emily

“Wyeth gave America a prim and flinty view of Puritan rectitude, starchily sentimental, through parched gray and brown pictures of spooky frame houses, desiccated fields, deserted beaches, circling buzzards and craggy-faced New Englanders.” – The New York Times

Cristina’s World by Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Wyeth’s artwork is a sharp contrast to the then widely popular movement of abstract art. Painting at a time with contemporaries such as Jackson Pollock and the infamous Andy Warhol, his style was aptly out of place. But, that is often the exact sentiment that makes his work so enduring.

Rural scenes inspired by his hometown of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania set Wyeth apart from other Modernist artist of the time. Often refered to as “a painter of the people” his work has also “sparked endless debates about the nature of modern art (NYT).”

Master Bedroom by Andrew Wyeth

The muted and somewhat bleak representations of familiar scenes stirs a sense of wonder and mystery as you view Wyeth’s paintings. The juxtaposition between common, usually inviting familial scenes and the emptiness and isolation creates the sense of a displacement that Wyeth often experienced in his own artistic life.

See more Andrew Wyeth artwork on Imagekind.

Visit andrewwyeth.com for additional information about the artist.

Imagekind Corporate Art Sales

We are extremely excited to introduce the new Corporate and Hospitality Art Sales program at Imagekind.

Now you can easily make your corporation or hospitality organization stand out from the rest. With the Imagekind Business and Hospitality Art Sales program you can decorate your office with stunning, framed artwork. Browse art from over 50,000 unique and independent artists on Imagekind and decorate your office suite with truly inspiring art.

Contact sales@imagekind.com to setup an art consultation and for more information.

We continue to see the demand interior decorators and designers have in finding high quality framed artwork, at an affordable price. That is why Imagekind launched this service. By creating a one stop shop for framed and canvas artwork, decorators and designers can easily find artwork for businesses, hotels, offices, hospitals, hospitality organizations and other corporate settings.

Shop artwork for your business, office and organization and discover these outstanding advantages:

All Inclusive

• One stop shop for all your fine art and framing needs
• Print your art on high end stretched canvas
• Choose art from our online catalog, or upload your own images and custom create your masterpiece

Vast Selection

• Experience the Classics or discover new and exclusive Member Art from our over 750,000 high-quality fine art images for sale
• We offer over 5.5 million custom frame and mat combinations
• Choose to print on one of 8 different paper types or 2 canvas options

Unparalleled Quality

• All of our custom framing is done onsite by our expert framers with over 30 years of experience in the framing business
• Our art prints are meticulously monitored for quality control ensuring you receive only the best
• We pride ourselves on our extraordinary customer satisfaction record that features thousands of happy clients

Exclusive Benefits

• Enjoy attractive discounts on corporate and bulk orders over $1,000
• We work with your deadlines and offer quick production and speedy shipping options
• Our art consultants are happy to assist you find artwork based on your decorating needs

Visit Imagekind.com for more information on the Corporate and Hospitality Art Sales program.

The portrait is one of the most striking forms of art. The ability to successfully represent such a complex subject has always astounded me. The portrait predominantly emphasizes a subject’s face and their expressions but is not limited to simply that. The portrait allows the artist to depict visually, what a person is experiencing in any given situation or moment in time.

Image: Tina
Shop Rene Blom’s Imagekind Gallery

Read more…

Imagekind is happy to announce an exciting collaboration with Debra Gould, the Staging Diva, creator of the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program. With this strategic cooperation, Home Stagers are now able to find art quickly and easily when decorating their clients’ homes for sale. Prior to offering artwork from Imagekind, Home Stagers had few options when trying to outfit a home with specific and appropriate artwork. However, as Debra explains,

Finding appropriate art that will enhance the home without taking over and getting it in the size and framing needed has been challenging until now. I created the Staging Diva Home Staging Art Shop to make this easier and I’ve created specific art galleries for every key room in the house. So you don’t have to wonder if a particular work of art is more appropriate for a master bedroom or dining room for example.

Offering artwork from the Imagekind community for the Staging Diva network creates a valuable resource for professional fulfillment on-demand, and is another addition to our continued pursuit of building the best community for buying, selling and creating art.

About The Staging Diva:

Debra Gould, creator of the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program, has staged millions of dollars worth of real estate, including seven of her own homes. Debra is the President of Six Elements which offers Home Staging, Interior Redesign and Color Consulting services, as well as the StagingDiva.com website.

Gould has gained international recognition and has been featured in major media in the US and Canada including: HGTV, CNN Money, CBC National News, CBS Radio, GlobalTV, CityTV, The Wall Street Journal, Woman’s Day, Reader’s Digest and more.

You can read more about this collaboration from Debra Gould on her blog, The Business of Home Staging.

Stumbling through the Internet the other day, I came across this pretty funny site, mrpicassohead.com where you can create your own abstract caricatures just like the modern master himself. It is pretty fun, and a good way to waste a few minutes of time. Try it out! Create something funny. Heck, maybe it will help inspire you for your next painting or other amazing work of art. Sometimes it’s just those goofy things (like the dog who had a run-in with a blow-dryer) that really set us apart and help us through the day.

Read more…

There is a pretty clever and interesting post over on the COLOURlovers blog about the inspiration of color on the major historical artists, as well as how their choices still inspire us today. Check out the neat interactive article they put together, using their websites main feature – creating palettes – to showcase just how useful it can be when considering design.

Sounds like a great way to consider what your hanging on your walls when matching decor. If you have a room that fits the palettes those Colour Lovers have put together, well you know right where to grab the art to match!

Take a look at the prints for some the other artists they showcase, including:

The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci
Three Musicians by Pablo Picasso
Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali
The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli
Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol
The Scream by Edvard Munch