Happy 2023! According to Larry David, I’m way past the statute of limitations in saying “Happy New Year!” But according to me, we have the entire month of January. How about that, Larry David? (2023 Julie is coming across very spicy!)

Did you read the Twitter thread of newspaper clippings from 1923 detailing what people thought life would be like one hundred years later? Now, in fact. There were a few that were spot-on, like the prediction that some women would be shaving their heads and some men would be wearing their hair curly! Others still have not come to fruition (but the year is still young!) like cancer being eradicated, gasoline being replaced with “radio”, and women blackening their teeth as a fashion statement. I’m sort of into that last one. Coffee and red wine stains, be damned! I’m blackening my teeth!

All this got me thinking- how has art evolved in the last hundred years? Would the prominent artists of 1923 be shocked? Impressed? Jealous they didn’t think of that first? According to Artfacts.com, here are the top ten artists of 1923:

1. Pablo Picasso
2. George Bellows
3. Robert Henri
4. Childe Hassam
5. Joseph Pennell
6. Henri Matisse
7. Ernest Lawson
8. (Richard) Hayley Lever
9. Auguste Rodin
10. Frederick Carl Frieseke

Just for fun, here are a few of their pieces beside art from modern day artists.

I think there’s a lot to be said for artists that paved (maybe mosaiced) the way. Surely the Picassos and Bellows of last century would be excited about the innovation and creativity happening today. Less excited about smashing cake and soup onto famous masterpieces, I think. But if they took a look at Janet Hill, Kelly Reemtsen, or Jeff Koons how could they not be delighted about how art has evolved? Of course, the more things change, the more they stay the same, and while art changes all the time, it continues to touch and change us in the best ways.

Here’s to an artsy 2023, friends!

Poll: How do you feel about the Piet Mondrian painting hanging upside down for the last 75 years?

A) What a travesty! What idiot could make such a mistake?!

B) Heehee! Hilarious! It’s like playing Hotel California backward- it makes sense either way!

I think you guys know which camp I’m in. How can we not laugh at a snafu like that?! It’s a good, old-fashioned blooper. What’s next? Bach’s Brandenberg Concertos were backwards? The blueprints for the Taj Mahal were upside down? The Hope Diamond is really cubic zirconia? I turned my computer upside down to see if I felt differently about Mondrian’s New York City I. Nope. Then, I left my computer right side up and did a headstand. Still nothing. The painting works either way!! Mondrian was more genius than even he knew!

Here are some other paintings I think are every bit as good upside down as they are right side up:

Georgia O’Keeffe’s Red Canna: Upside down it’s less climactic and more volacanic, I think.

Dali’s Metamorphosis of Narcissus is trippy no matter which way you spin it! (Note: In my opinion, almost all Dali’s paintings can be flipped and make just as much sense as they do right side up!)

I think this looks even MORE like a Picasso when it’s upside down!

Monet’s bridge looks a little saggy flipped upside down, but I think it gives the painting a dangerous, “are we going to fall in this pond?!” feel.

Here’s to looking at things from a new angle, friends! Have a wonderfully topsy-turvy day!

I determined to try the art of kintsugi. I heard about it a long time ago, then again in a fiction book I recently read. It’s beautiful, it’s functional, it’s exotic and practical. What’s not to love?! And… it even seemed like something I could tackle. Not like the time I tried to make my nephew a croissant crab….

But like something I could actually do and it might turn out. My research began on YouTube. Then I read all the articles. Then I did all the supply research and made my purchases. Here are some of the blurbs from YouTube and the aforementioned articles: “Shockingly easy!” “Four easy steps:” “Anyone can perform kintsugi repair.”

Here are some blurbs from me as I attempted kintsugi: “What the heck?” “I thought this was ‘shockingly freaking easy!” “I DID hold this for four minutes! The internet lies!”

So, I’m awful at it, but my gosh- I think it’s beautiful. Here are some pieces done by people who got it right:

Isn’t it lovely? I love the philosophy behind it: that things are redeemable, that broken things can be repaired. A vase, a bowl, a person? Maybe they’ve been shattered, but they can be put back together and beautiful, only beautiful in a different way than before. It makes me a little weepy, to tell you the truth. It makes me think maybe I should give this thing another try.

I can’t resist one more little ArtPrize post. One thing I love about this event is there are always new artists, but there are several artists who enter every year, giving a familiar feel to new pieces. It’s fun to see an exhibit and know without looking at the placard who made it. Here are a few last year/this year pictures.

Did you go to ArtPrize? Did you have a favorite exhibit? Comment below!

Well, I wore jeans yesterday. And a sweatshirt the day before that. It seems summer is inching toward the door, but not without a good-bye. This Labor Day weekend was one of the best I’ve ever had. My whole family was up north and even though it seemed every house on the lake except ours caught the Northern Lights, my days were just as bright and thrilling. In large part because my whole family was there AND a handful of my beloved cousins, aunts, and uncles. Some of whom I haven’t seen since before Covid. It was a happy, happy reunion.

We celebrated by letting the patriarchs (my dad and his brother) make us a pancake breakfast. Delighted chatter bubbled and bounced, a dozen conversations happening at once, but you know I managed to ask a few people about their favorite art. As per usual, they all reserve the right to change their minds or add to their list at any time.

Amy: Amy didn’t hem or haw. “The first thing that comes to mind is The Pissing Boy in Belgium,” she laughed. (We were all a little giddy with togetherness.) The statue is aptly titled Manneken Pis (Dutch for “Little Pissing Man.”) She appreciates its humor, but semi-seriously noted there’s more to it if you think about it. The boy commemorates our basic need for water and relief. Repeat. Our cousin Tom chimed in to inform us the statue is in honor of a little boy who reportedly saved the town when it was on fire by… using the fire as a urinal. The statue has become a symbol of perseverance. Through war, theft, vandalism… still he stands. For over 400 years the boy has been peeing before tourists and Belgians alike, refreshing the people with his unassuming posture and cool, clear stream.

Tom: Tom loves the fine arts. He is a writer and dancer and appreciator of all creativity, so I was not surprised that he had an answer at the ready: The Kiss by Auguste Rodin. “It is romantic and sensual. The subjects are only focused on each other. Nothing else exists to them in that moment.” The statue depicts a scene from Dante’s Inferno, in which a woman falls in love with her brother-in-law. The sculpture was scandalous when it was first unveiled. Many argued it was too scandalous and tried to ban it, but its beauty along with Rodin’s talent, could not be denied. Rodin ended up making multiple versions of it for the many art collectors (and finally) museums who recognized the piece as passionate and skillful rather than obscene.

Amit: I was unfamiliar with the artist Amit mentioned as one of his favorites, so he pulled up some of Alex Grey’s work and passed his phone around. None of us knew of him (except my brother who immediately recognized Grey’s work from Tool’s album cover.) What a fantastic treat to learn about this guy (and over delicious blueberry pancakes, no less!) His work is intricate and a little trippy. We all loved the tree shown below, leading to a sidebar conversation about other trees in art. Is a penchant for colorful trees genetic? It would seem so.

Jamie: Jamie is an architecture and interior design person. She loves buildings and structure and the aesthetics that go with them. She has a fantastic eye for beauty, which not everybody does. Me, for instance. (I’m looking at you, entire collection of Goya paintings. Are you beautiful? Ugly? Both?) Jamie always, always knows if something is lovely or not. Here she is holding her favorite paintings du jour: the one on the right was done by our grandma and the smaller one on the left is one she found at a thrift store to feature by our grandma’s painting. Jamie loved how beautifully the gold background of the thrift store painting complimented the few bits of gold in our grandma’s.

As with my friends featured in the last post, asking “what’s your favorite piece of art?” initiated fantastic conversation within my family. Everyone chimed in! Comments like “I don’t care for impressionism.” and “I prefer 3D art.” and “We just went to a great art museum in Denver!” swirled around like steam off our coffee and warmed me just as much. Family, friends, art… all my favorites!

Did you know the Mona Lisa has her own mailbox? She gets thousands of love letters from fans every year! In this second installment of “Favorites,” I asked some of my favorite friends what their favorite pieces of art are. They aren’t sending fanmail to these artworks as far as I know, but we sure did have fun waxing poetic about our favorite pieces!

Kate: Kate verbalized a problem we all face with art, “I seem to love everything I see.” Same! The struggle is real. But when push came to shove, she was able to name a few pieces that hold a special place in her heart.

Kate saw each of these pieces in person. Don’t you think there is something about seeing art in real life that connects us to it forever? Kate said seeing David birthed her love of art. “Standing next to the beautiful marble sculpture knowing that one of the greatest artists in the world created it, evoked such awe and appreciation for me I will always remember it.” At the Vatican, upon seeing School of Athens, she noted that “next to all the other pieces of artwork the detail and brighness of Raphael’s paintings really spoke to me. They were just so much above the other artists.” And finally, one of Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings. “The color that Van Gogh used in this painting evokes happy and even calming feelings for me and it means even more because of my passion for working with flowers.” Kate evokes happy and calming feelings too! To see some of her incredible flower arrangements visit her website here!

Suzie: Suzie knows a lot about art. She is married to an art teacher, has two artist children, and is an amazing artist in her own right. You remember her from the incredible butter sculpture at my birthday party last year.

Suzie emailed me the picture on the left, done by an artist I’d never heard of, but now love for all time (Bright colors! Animals! Yay!) She learned of Monika Forsberg from a puzzle Forsberg designed, proving art does not have to be a huge financial investment or hanging in a museum. Art can be in pieces on the kitchen table! The puzzle, for instance, is (in Suzie’s words) “colorful and fun and almost musical to the eye.” Suzie actually replicated one of Forsberg’s paintings in her kitchen so she can look at it every day. (I told you- she’s an artist!) She also sent a picture of this piggy she loves because it’s “simple and unpretentious.” We all agreed the pig is adorable (I told her I especially love its ear. So sweet!) Thank goodness Suzie rescued it from her parents’ “give away” pile!

Carla: You know Carla from other blog posts because she is always game for exploring art with me! Stay tuned for a post on ArtPrize when we visit later in September! I knew she’d rise to this challenge not only because she loves art, but because she is a champ at any version of “Favorites.”

Carla’s mom has a replica painting of Ginevra de’ Benci in her home, so she already had a soft-spot for the portrait. Then she was able to see the original at the National Gallery. She said when she spotted Ginevra, “it was like seeing a familiar face, oh- I know her!” She added that like her mom, she could stare at Ginevra’s glowing face and unique expression for hours. The Bean (and big, interactive pieces like it!) is also among Carla’s favorites. Cloud Gate acts as a mirror for different people all the time, so it’s constantly changing, which is awesome. Plus, who doesn’t love being part of an exhibit? Incidentally, the third art piece Carla mentioned as a favorite is also interactive: Patrick Dougherty’s Standing Room is a stick structure at WMU, where Carla often passed it, went in it, and admired it. Carla loves nature and art, so it’s no surprise she has an appreciation for the marriage of the two!

Moriah: I love that Moriah pointed out lots of people feel art is only for those with an “eye” for it, but art is for us all! It’s personal and important and not right or wrong. I used to feel this way about wine. It turns out the finest wine is…. whatever tastes good to the drinker! Likewise, the best art is whatever a person thinks is best! Isn’t that the beauty of it?

Moriah noted Monet’s garden paintings and how they make her want to breathe deeply, which made me smile because she is a yoga instructor and of course paying attention to her breathing. 🙂 I’m so happy she brought up Monet’s gardens, because I mostly remember his lilypads when I think Monet, but how stunning are the colors in this painting of his garden? The vibrancy makes me want to crawl into the canvas and stroll around. Moriah also noted da Vinci’s exquisite ability to draw the human form, and isn’t that the truth? Has anybody since da Vinci been able to capture humans so intricately? Incidentally, the hands pictured above are believed to be “practice hands” da Vinci drew for Ginevra de’Benci!

I have to tell you, I sent these friends a casual text one afternoon asking for their favorite artwork and the loveliest text thread bloomed. If you are looking for a great conversation with your friend group, let me suggest asking “What’s your favorite piece of art? PLEASE DON’T FEEL OBLIGATED!” If your friends are half as awesome as mine, they’ll deliver!