Matisse "Two Models Resting" at Perelman Bldg Phila Museum of Art

Yesterday I went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and, for the first time, across the street to the Museum's exhibition space in the Perelman Building (separate admission). One of the exhibits at the Perelman Building was "Henri Matisse and Modern Art on the French Riviera," which is on display from December 13, 2008 to November 1, 2009. Almost all the works on display are from the Museum's collection, but many I haven't seen before in the period rooms in the main building. As you can imagine, museums own many more items than they can display at any one time. So it was very worthwhile for me to visit.

I generally like Matisse's work, and I've seen a lot of it. I've seen the many works exhibited at the Baltimore Museum of Art which are part of their 500+ work collection of Matisse several times, and I've seen the 59 Matisse works at the Barnes Foundation many times. I've seen Matisse at the Phillips, LACMA, MoMA, the Met, Art Institute of Chicago, etc., etc. And it was nice to see some new-to-me paintings.

By the way, you can see some of my paintings on my website at www.jayrolfe.com/. You can also access this blog through the website.

Today I'm featuring Henri Matisse's colorful Two Models Resting from 1928. I'm sorry it's slightly out of focus. That's even more reason for you to get over there yourself and see the original.

Cross "Femme Nue"

Artist Jay Rolfe particularly appreciated the unusual colors and beauty of this "Nude" by Henri-Edmond Cross, a French painter, whose 1895-1896 painting used large daubs of color even larger than used by the pointillists such as Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. This painting can be seen at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's signature style, his innovative 3-D Shaped Stretched Canvas paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/.

Boots

Last Wednesday April 2, 2008, artist Jay Rolfe posted Vincent Van Gogh's "A Pair of Boots" from the Baltimore Museum of Art on this blog. On Saturday, artist Jay Rolfe noticed a similar pair of boots and photographed them. Here's that photo, and a smaller repeat of Van Gogh's 1887 painting.

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's signature style, his innovative 3-D Shaped Stretched Canvas paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/.

Jackson Pollack "Water Birds"

Artist Jay Rolfe recently saw this 1943 Jackson Pollack painting titled "Water Birds" at the Baltimore Museum of Art. This was several years before Pollack's famous "drip paintings." But you can see where he was headed.

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's signature style, his innovative 3-D Shaped Stretched Canvas paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/.

Ileana Sonnabend and "Rabbit" by Jeff Koons

Artist Jay Rolfe recently viewed a sculpture lent by Ileana Sonnabend and Michael Sonnabend to the Baltimore Museum of Art. It's "Rabbit" by Jeff Koons made in 1986. It's made of stainless steel and portrays a balloon rabbit.

Last week it was reported that as a result of Ileana Sonnabend's recent death her children sold off part of her art collection to pay estate taxes. They got $600,000,000 (yes, six hundred million dollars) for the part they sold of her art collection which in total is valued at over $1,000,000,000 (yes, that's over one billion dollars). She was a renown dealer who kept some of the best for herself.

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's signature style, his innovative 3-D Shaped Stretched Canvas paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/.

Claude Monet's "Charing Cross Bridge"

Today's photo is one artist Jay Rolfe recently viewed at the Baltimore Museum of Art. It's by Claude Monet and is titled "Charing Cross Bridge"or "Reflections on the Thames" painted in 1901-1904. Monet painted a series of paintings of this and other bridges and the effects of sun and fog on them in London.

The Baltimore Museum of Art is charming. There is a great collection of several thousand year old mosaics from Antioch, as well as a great Modern collection, and some strong paintings from other eras.

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's signature style, his innovative 3-D Shaped Stretched Canvas paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/.

Matisse "Reclining Nude I" Sculpture

Henri Matisse created this small sculpture titled "Reclining Nude I" which artist Jay Rolfe saw on a recent visit to the Baltimore Museum of Art, at the same time he painted "The Blue Nude" in 1907. See the March 17, 2008 post on this blog for a photo of "The Blue Nude." The Baltimore Museum of Art really is a gem!

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's signature style, his innovative 3-D Shaped Stretched Canvas paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/.

Van Gogh "A Pair of Boots"

The photo of the day is a painting from the Baltimore Museum of Art which artist Jay Rolfe saw on a recent visit. It's by Vincent Van Gogh, painted in 1887, and titled "A Pair of Boots." It's a subject and style different from what we usually associate with Van Gogh.

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's signature style, his innovative 3-D Shaped Stretched Canvas paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/.

Matisse "The Pink Nude"

Henri Matisse painted "The Pink Nude" more formally known as "Large Reclining Nude" in 1935. This compares with 1907 for "The Blue Nude" which is shown in my post yesterday. Both of these nudes are shown in the same gallery of the Baltimore Museum of Art. The collector and donor, Etta Cone, displayed both of them in the same room of her Baltimore apartment on opposite walls.

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's signature style, his innovative 3-D Shaped Stretched Canvas paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/.

Matisse's "Blue Nude"

On Friday artist Jay Rolfe visited the Baltimore Museum of Art again. They have one of the best collections in the world of Matisse paintings, part of the Cone collection. One painting I missed on my previous visit because it was out on loan was the famous "Blue Nude" by Henri Matisse. It's a large painting done in 1907. Imagine a very proper female physician from Baltimore buying that at that time.

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's signature style, his innovative 3-D Shaped Stretched Canvas paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/.

Matisse "Purple Robe And Anemones" at Baltimore Museum of Art

Artist Jay Rolfe is still reading Hilary Spurling's bio of Matisse titled Matisse The Master. So today's photo will be a Matisse painting, this one from the Cone Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. The Cone sisters amassed 500 paintings, drawings, and sculptures by Matisse and eventually gave them to their hometown museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art. The photo of the day by Henri Matisse painted in 1937 is "Purple Robe And Anemones." The model is his longtime assistant Lydia Delectorskaya.

That's the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's Unique Artistic Idea, his Hyper Representational 3-D Shaped Stretched Canvas paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/. Artist Jay Rolfe uses vibrant color, 3-D, recognizable shape, and huge size to reveal beauty, touch emotion in a positive way, and create an Uplifting Conversation Piece.

Pissarro ... my journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso

The Baltimore Museum of Art beckoned to Jay Rolfe today. He's been intending to go to see the "Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape" exhibit since he read Ed Sozanski's excellent review in the Philadelphia Inquirer on April 1, 2007 (no fooling!). I mentioned Sozanski's review in my post of April 2. The exhibit was all Sozanski said it was, and I enjoyed it. Since it was landscapes, it didn't include Pissarro's great paintings of crowds on Paris' plazas and bridges. The development of his landscape style over about 10 years, from 1865 to 1875 covered by the exhibit, showed the development of impressionist style. Here's an sample from 1873 lent by the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, "Hoarfrost at Ennery." The first Impressionist exhibit was in 1874, and Pissarro had spent many months painting separately with Cezanne and Monet by that time. I can see the cross influences. Here's a link to the Museum's page on the exhibit. www.artbma.org/exhibitions/index.html

This was my first visit to the Baltimore Museum of Art. What a great museum. They've got scads of Antioch mosaics, great old master paintings such as this Botticelli, "Madonna Adoring The Child With Five Angels," and a great 20th Century collection which is especially rich in Matisse paintings and other materials. Here's an example of Matisse, "Striped Robe, Fruit, and Anemones" from 1940.

It was a wonderful day today! You can see some completed expressions of Jay Rolfe's unique artistic idea on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/. That's today's step on the journey of Jay Rolfe From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso.

Tires and Pissarro ... my journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso

Since Jay Rolfe painted all weekend, today he had to do other things, like get tires for his car.

In Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, art critic Edward J. Sozanski had a great article/review of an exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art titled "Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape." As I'm fond of Monet's and Renoir's Impressionist landscapes, I think I'll go see what impressed Ed Sozanski.

That's today's step on the journey of Jay Rolfe From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You can see some expressions of my unique artistic idea on my website at www.3dssc.com.