Sunday, March 11, 2012

An uplifting post

A few days ago I enjoyed  the Anthony Petullo's collection at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The artists whose work is shown here are an inspiration to all of us. Their life experience sets the example of what passion and persistence can achieve when they go hand in hand.
-Many of these artists were self-taught.
-Many of them endured economic hardships and/or had mental disorders.
-Many of them started working on their art in their forties and even later.


 I would like to mention some of of my favorite artists from this collection:
Frederick James Lloyd: he grew up on a farm in Cheshire in England and had different jobs before he devoted himself to his art. He worked as a farm laborer, stoker, lamplighter, bus conductor and police officer. At the age of 42 he remarried and fathered nine children. You would not think that was the best time to work on his art, right? Wrong! He worked on something else to support his family during the day, but in the evenings he painted at his kitchen table with his kids running and playing around him. One of the paintings I am showing here (the one with the face) is Lloyd's work. 
Sylvia Levine is another self-taught artist who began painting at the age of 45. The landscape here is one of her many paintings.
Madge Gill is a woman who worked with ink and pencil. Here is a link to some of her interesting work:

 I cannot finish this post without telling you about Leo Navratil, a psychiatrist and author from Austria who encouraged his patients to draw and paint. While supporting his patients' creativity, he discovered that some of them were very talented. He sent some of the artwork to Jean Dubuffet and they created a group called The Gugging artists. Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) was an artist attracted to the art of children and the mentally ill. He did a lot to promote their work. He attacked "conformism" and mainstream culture which he described as "asphyxiating". Feel free to visit these links about Jean Dubuffet:

If you are close to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, you may appreciate a visit to the Milwaukee Museum of Art to enjoy Anthony Petullo's collection.







13 comments:

  1. It's good to know that you love art. I also love art.

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  2. Unfortunately I don't live near enough to visit this exhibit. Like Richard, I love art. Thanks for providing links.

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    1. Hi Elizabeth. Thanks for stopping by. It's nice to know that you love art, too. Art has a positive impact on my mood, I should say.

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  3. Interesting stuff, Julia. I just left a comment on Stephen Tremp's blog that I'm going to repeat here. We're only limited by our minds and our self-perception.

    Amazing what we can do when we put our mind to it.

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    1. Yes, J.L. Campbell. That's true. I'm fascinated by what the mind can do.

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  4. Great post as usual dear Julia. I hope you're doing well. I dropped by to let you know that I tagged you in a meme on my blog.Hugs

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  5. Thanks Liz! I have no idea what that means but I will find out soon. Have a lovely weekend.

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  6. This sounds like a great and inspiring exhibit. I, like the others, love art. It's too bad that I'm in Texas and nowhere near Milwaukee. :(

    I've left you a blog award over at:
    http://lylawrites.blogspot.com/2012/04/blog-awards-galore-sequel.html

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  7. Dear Lyla: Thanks so much for the blog award. I can´t wait to read about it. Thanks for the award and for commenting on my post.

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    1. Hi, Julia. You are so very welcome. Were you able to find the award? You're under #3 (the "One Lovely Blog" Award). Let me know if you have any more trouble finding it. :)

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  8. What a beautiful collection - truly inspiring and thoroughly uplifting! I love art used as therapy and self expression! Thanks for sharing, take care
    x

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