This Is Not Just A Painting

In 2008, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon acquired a painting called The Flight into Egypt which was attributed to the French artist Nicolas Poussin. Thought to have been painted in 1657, the painting had gone missing for more than three centuries. Several versions were rediscovered in the 1980s and one was passed from hand to hand, from a family who had no idea of its value to gallery owners and eventually to the museum. A painting that had been sold as a decorative object in 1986 for around 12,000 euros was acquired two decades later by the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon for 17 million euros. What does this remarkable story tell us about the nature of art and the way that it is valued? How is it that what seemed to be just an ordinary canvas could be transformed into a masterpiece, that a decorative object could become a national treasure? This is a story permeated by social magic the social alchemy that transforms lead into gold, the ordinary into the extraordinary, the profane into the sacred. Focusing on this extraordinary case, Bernard Lahire lays bare the beliefs and social processes that underpin the creation of a masterpiece. Like a detective piecing together the clues in an unsolved mystery he carefully reconstructs the steps that led from the same material object being treated as a copy of insignificant value to being endowed with the status of a highly-prized painting commanding a record-breaking price. He thereby shows that a painting is never just a painting, and is always more than a piece of stretched canvass to which brush strokes of paint have been applied: this object, and the value we attach to it, is also the product of a complex array of social processes – with its distinctive institutions and experts – that lies behind it. And through the history of this painting, Lahire uncovers some of the fundamental structures of our social world. For the social magic that can transform a painting from a simple copy into a masterpiece is similar to the social magic that is present throughout our societies, in economics and politics as much as art and religion, a magic that results from the spell cast by power on those who tacitly recognize its authority. By following the trail of a single work of art, Lahire interrogates the foundations on which our perceptions of value and our belief in institutions rest and exposes the forms of domination which lie hidden behind our admiration of works of art.

With humorous, revealing stories from painting adventures on location, the book has a wealth of useful technical guidance for painters in drawing, doodling, watercolour and oils. It offers a rich, lively and diverse collection of anecdotes that sheds a new light on what makes painting en plein air with a trusted friend such a lifetime of pleasure.

In 2008, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon acquired a painting called The Flight into Egypt which was attributed to the French artist Nicolas Poussin. Thought to have been painted in 1657, the painting had gone missing for more than three centuries. Several versions were rediscovered in the 1980s and one was passed from hand to hand, from a family who had no idea of its value to gallery owners and eventually to the museum. A painting that had been sold as a decorative object in 1986 for around 12,000 euros was acquired two decades later by the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon for 17 million euros. What does this remarkable story tell us about the nature of art and the way that it is valued? How is it that what seemed to be just an ordinary canvas could be transformed into a masterpiece, that a decorative object could become a national treasure? This is a story permeated by social magic the social alchemy that transforms lead into gold, the ordinary into the extraordinary, the profane into the sacred. Focusing on this extraordinary case, Bernard Lahire lays bare the beliefs and social processes that underpin the creation of a masterpiece. Like a detective piecing together the clues in an unsolved mystery he carefully reconstructs the steps that led from the same material object being treated as a copy of insignificant value to being endowed with the status of a highly-prized painting commanding a record-breaking price. He thereby shows that a painting is never just a painting, and is always more than a piece of stretched canvass to which brush strokes of paint have been applied: this object, and the value we attach to it, is also the product of a complex array of social processes – with its distinctive institutions and experts – that lies behind it. And through the history of this painting, Lahire uncovers some of the fundamental structures of our social world. For the social magic that can transform a painting from a simple copy into a masterpiece is similar to the social magic that is present throughout our societies, in economics and politics as much as art and religion, a magic that results from the spell cast by power on those who tacitly recognize its authority. By following the trail of a single work of art, Lahire interrogates the foundations on which our perceptions of value and our belief in institutions rest and exposes the forms of domination which lie hidden behind our admiration of works of art.

"Presenting, interpreting, and celebrating the world-renowned and the lesser-known California artists who have uniquely defined and redefined the still life, this volume offers an exploration of the sensual pleasures, the aesthetic challenges, and the intellectual and perceptual associations of a century of art through the prism of a single genre."--BOOK JACKET.

Adopt a spontaneous, bold, and fearless approach to painting as a process of discovery—one that results in lush and colorful finished works that will beg to be displayed. This inspiring and encouraging book for both novice and experienced painters teaches how to create colorful, exciting, expressive paintings through a variety of techniques, combining basic, practical painting principles with innovative personal self-expression. Flora S. Bowley's fun and forgiving approach to painting is based on the notion that “You don't begin with a preconceived painting in mind; you allow the painting to unfold.” Illustrating how to work in layers, Flora gives you the freedom to cover up, re-start, wipe away, and change courses many times along the way. Unexpected and unique compositions, color combinations, and subject matter appear as you allow your paintings to emerge in an organic, unplanned way while working from a place of curiosity and letting go of fear. —Learn techniques for working with vibrant color and avoiding mud. —Make rich and varied marks with a variety of unexpected tools. —Break compositional rules. —Embrace nonattachment as a way to keep exploring. —Keep momentum by moving your body and staying positive. —Work with what's working to let go of struggle. —Connect more deeply to the world around you to stay inspired. —Embrace layers to create rich complex paintings. —Find rhythm by spiraling between chaos and order.

"The four essays in this volume constitute Derrida's most explicit and sustained reflection on the art work as pictorial artifact, a reflection partly by way of philosophical aesthetics (Kant, Heidegger), partly by way of a commentary on art works and art scholarship (Van Gogh, Adami, Titus-Carmel). The illustrations are excellent, and the translators, who clearly see their work as both a rendering and a transformation, add yet another dimension to this richly layered composition. Indispensable to collections emphasizing art criticism and aesthetics."—Alexander Gelley, Library Journal

This new, sophisticated, comprehensive reference book will inspire and instruct painters on how to handle today's acrylics in innovative and individualistic ways. Acrylics have grown into the most adaptable art material for the modern age. Developments in the pigment industry have given acrylics a remarkably permanent, rich, and abundant palette, making it the favorite medium of many contemporary artists. As colors are being developed, their chemical components are also enhanced for better texture and handling. Art-supplies vendors now offer acrylic mediums for thinning, thickening, glazing, molding, pouring, texturing, and dozens of other uses. Even experienced acrylic painters can be confused—even intimidated—by this staggering diversity of products. Painter and art materials expert Rhéni Tauchid simplifies this daunting subject, clearly explaining each type of medium and suggesting ways it can enhance your painting practice. Over twenty step-by-step demonstrations teach you how to apply mediums to create vibrant colors, sensuous surfaces, and striking visual effects. Hundreds of beautiful photos illustrate mediums’ almost limitless potential and show you how other artists—both abstract and realist—are employing mediums to push their art in new creative directions. The first book of its kind, this essential reference belongs on every acrylic painter’s shelf. Includes the Work of Contemporary Masters: Nick Bantock, Diane Black, Bruno Capolongo, Pauline Conley, Marc Courtemanche, Marie-Claude Delcourt, Claire Desjardins, Marion Fischer, Heather Haynes, Lorena Kloosterboer, Suzy Lamont, Marie Lannoo, Connie Morris, Barry Oretsky, Lori Richards, Hester Simpson, Ksenia Sizaya, Rhéni Tauchid, Alice Teichert, Beth ten Hove, Sharlena Wood, and Heather Midori Yamada.

Through poetry and art, PAINTING FOR PEACE IN FERGUSON tells the story of hundreds of artists and volunteers who turned boarded up windows into works of art with messages of hope, healing and unity in the aftermath of the Ferguson, MO riots.