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| MY FAVOURITE ARTISTS: M. C. ESCHER and CLAUDE MONET |
| Maurits Cornelis ESCHER (1898-1972) I think, Escher is both an artist and a mathematician. Moreover, he is a genius! In short he's talented, intelligent and creative at the same time! You'll see it for yourself when you look at his work. He has achieved what nobody else has, because he could draw infinity! Dividing a plane into regular areas, repeating the same pattern, seeing the similarities and contrasts between objects, drawing things which are physically impossible to exist and making them look completely natural and faultless... This is what Escher is! They say that Escher understood the mathematical concepts very well, used them and built "a symbolic bridge between the realms of art and science". You'll understand what this means when you see the pictures. Have fun! HIS BIOGRAPHY: M. C. Escher who was born on 17 June 1898 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands learnt carpentry and other craft skills at early ages. Although he wasn't a very bright student, everyone was aware of his drawing talent, so he listened to the advices of his family and started to study architecture. But after a short time, he realised that his actual interest was for graphic arts, so he started to study in the School for Architectural and Decorative Arts. For two years, he learnt the woodcutting and graphic techniques there. He then traveled through South France, Spain and Italy. What he saw during these trips inspired his work. He was especially interested in structural art nd he visited the Alhambra Palace in Granada for several times. He was very attracted by the Moorish ornaments there and he reflected them in his work. He fled to infinity on 27 March 1972. |
| Claude Oscar MONET (1840-1926) Monet is one of the most important representatives of Impressionism, in fact he is the person who gave Impressionism its name. The name used by a hostile critic to make fun of Monet's painting named "Impression: Sunrise" painted in 1874 is now one of the most important art terms. In Impressionism, the operation of painting, namely the brush strokes can easily be seen. It is quite obvious that Monet loved nature, views, outdoor scenes, gardens, seas, sun rays and their reflections on water. We can see that he has reflected these in his paintings by using lots of colours. Moreover while painting sun rays and their reflections, he used the "broken colour technique of classic impressionism" which he and Renoir had created. This way he created an atmosphere full of light and air. Monet, who painted an outdoor scene for several times under various light and weather conditions, is famous for these series. Monet was aware of the value of the present moment and that's why his paintings give people joy of life. He had a colourful life full of travels and trips and he spent the last fourty years of his life by painting the water lilies in his garden at Giverny. But there's a slow down in his work after 1909 due to his cataract disease and the death of his wife and son. Some people think that Monet's technique depends on his astigmatism. In fact, when he was fitted a pair of glasses to correct his severe astigmatism, he flung them away and said "If the world really looks like that, I will paint no more!". But his quote which expresses his main philosophy is this: "I would like to paint as a bird sings." |
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