My Favorite Artists and Their Art: Odilon Redon

Odilon Redon's artwork is extraordinarily unique and hard to describe. Whether working in colorful pastels or stark charcoal drawings, the images he created are remarkably vivid and dreamlike. Shifting in styles and genres from Post-Impressionism to Symbolism, his art is saturated with an emotional intensity that seems almost prophetic of future art movements such as Expressionism and Surrealism, yet he doesn't seem to belong to any single movement. Rather, Redon's skill was transcending the boundaries of what had come before and exploring what was yet to come, all the while journeying inward to a place of psychological conflict and spiritual awakening.

The Smiling Spider (1881)

The Crying Spider (1881)

The Spirit of the Forest (1880)

The Buddha (1904)

The Flame (1896)

The Raven (1882)

Guardian Spirit of the Waters (1878)

Flower Clouds (1903)

Stained Glass Window (1908)

Portrait of Mademoiselle Jeane Roberte de Domecy (1905)

The Cyclops (1914)

Cactus Man (1881)

My Favorite Artists and Their Art: William-Adolphe Bouguereau

William-Adolphe Bouguereau is perhaps one of the great heroes of the Academic art movement. His works are vividly brought to life in a manner that is at once realistic and yet also idealized. While Bouguereau confined himself to the traditional Victorian values of Academicism and Realism, the images that he managed to create during his lifetime are iconic and timeless, though he has not been treated as kindly as his contemporaries by many art historians. Often drawing on themes of gentle eroticism, the juxtaposition of beautiful women with nature, and the bittersweet reminisces of childhood, Bougeureau painted in a way that could be emotionally evocative in its realistic depiction of everyday life, but also dreamily intoxicating in the way that he romanticized human sexuality and sexual innocence.

The Return of Spring (1886)

The Birth of Venus (1879)

Bather (1870)

The Invasion (1893)

Evening Mood (1882)

Biblis (1884)

The Wave (1896)

Nymphs and a Satyr (1873)

Cupidon (1891)

Dawn (1881)

L'amour et Psyché, Enfants (1890)

The Bohemian (1890)

My Favorite Artists and Their Art: M.C. Escher

M.C. Escher is one of those artists who is impossible to categorize. His works don't possess the typically inherent emotions of most art movements. His art is far more procedural, intellectual, and precise in its purpose. Many of his works are woodcuts done entirely in black and white, yet his works are as complex and unforgettable as those of artists who pour the full spectrum of colors onto their canvases with paint. What Escher does is present viewers with works of art that are at once restrained in their expression of emotions, but at the same time are provocative and mentally stimulating. One could half-jokingly say that looking at an M.C. Escher print is like doing mathematical gymnastics with your eyes and brain.

The Eye (1946)

Drawing Hands (1948)

Relativity (1953)

Hand with Reflecting Sphere (1935)

Snakes (1969)

Waterfall (1961)

Paradise (1921)

The Castle in the Air (1928)

The Fall of Man (1927)

Bond of Union (1956)

My Favorite Artists and Their Art: Arthur Rackham

From my own perspective Arthur Rackham remains the greatest artist from The Golden Age of Illustration which lasted from the 1880s up until around WWII. Rackham first rose to prominence with his strangely compelling illustrated works that featured all of the various elements of the greatest myths, fables, and fairy tales. The artwork that he produced contained all of the whimsy, romance, adventure, and grotesquerie that was found in their accompanying narratives. Rackham's images became so ingrained in the minds of many children that his illustrations almost defined the essence of fantasy and legend for generations. Personally, I've always found his unique combination of innocent beauty with eeriness and often tragedy to be emotionally moving. I can't think of any other artist in the world of illustration who managed to so evocatively retell the stories of the past with such imagination and believability.

Soon She Was Lost to Sight in the Danube (1909, from Undine)


Freya (1909, from The Rhinegold & the Valkyrie)


The Third Time She Wore the Star-Dress which Sparkled with Every Step (1917, from Little Brother and Little Sister and Other Tales by the Brothers Grimm)


At This the Whole Pack Rose Up into the Air, and Came Flying Down Upon Her (1907, from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)


It Seemed as if a Sudden Swarm of Winged Creatures Brushed Past Her (1922, from A Wonder Book)


Thor (1910, from The Rhinegold & the Valkyrie)


The Waiting Maid Sprang Down and Maid Maleen Followed (1917, from Little Brother and Little Sister and Other Tales by the Brothers Grimm)


Brünnhilde (1910, from The Rhinegold & the Valkyrie)


Brünnhilde Kisses the Ring (1911 from Siegfried & The Twilight of the Gods)


Marjorie and Margaret (1912, from Arthur Rackham's Book of Pictures)


How Sir Launcelot Fought a Fiendly Dragon (1917, from The Romance of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table)


Titania Lying Asleep (1908, from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream)


When the Storm Threatened to Burst on Their Heads (1909, from Undine)


And Now They Never Meet in Grove or Green, By Fountain Clear or Spangled Starlight Sheen, But They Do Square (1908, from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream)


The Magic Cup (1908, from Arthur Rackham's Book of Pictures)


Where Is Pease-Blossom? (1907, from Tales from Shakespeare)