After four years of painstaking and pioneering restoration, Ilya Repins 1885 masterpiece Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan was briefly rehung in Moscows State Tretyakov Gallery on 23 May. The painting was attacked by an overwhelmed drunk man wielding a metal pole in 2018.

The work suffered three tears to its surface. The assailant, Igor Podporin from Voronezh (460km from Moscow), was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

The repaired canvas measuring 199.5cm by 254cm was unveiled to the press in the Tretyakovs Ilya Repin Hall before being wheeled back into the gallerys vaults at the end of the ceremony. It will not return to public view until a specially designed protective capsule is built to cover it.

The work has been attacked twice in the past; it was first targeted in 1913 by a mentally ill iconographer, who slashed it three times with a knife (Repin was on hand to help restore it himself). The Tretyakov hopes increased security will deter anyone from committing a third act of violence during a fit of rage, like that immortalised in the painting, which portrays Ivan the Terrible cradling his bloodied son, Tsarevich Ivan, after dealing him a mortal blow in 1581.

The museum set up a special restoration workshop on-site, said to include a "unique restoration chair. The Russian state-owned banking and financial services company Sberbank helped fund the project, which is estimated to have cost $160,000.

During the restoration process, for the first time in Russia, an innovative approach to thinning the lacquer coating was used. Together with the excess lacquer, now thinned down to its original layer, a considerable amount of old restoration inter-lacquer notes and materials was also removed. This allowed the painting to regain its true colouristic sound as conceived by the artist, a Tretyakov spokesperson added.

The general director of the Tretyakov Gallery Zelfira Tregulova told reporters that she hopes to raise enough money in the near future to build the protective capsule, which will be made out of the same anti-glare, anti-vandal bulletproof glass that shields Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus and Primavera in Florence's Uffizi Gallery. The glass is only made in Italy and Japan, which Tregulova suggested is an obstacle due to the current sanctions imposed on Russia following the ongoing war in Ukraine.

She also said metal security poles like the one used to damage the painting in 2018 have been removed from the gallery: As you can see during this press conference, we have strengthened security. There is a Federal Guard Service officer and a Tretyakov Gallery guard present. In spite of the security measures, Tregulova added that she does not want to give visitors the impression that the artwork is in a dungeon when it permanently returns.

Tatiana Gorodkova, the Tretyakovs chief curator, said the attack does have a silver lining because more is now known about Repins famous work: Now the painting is in a very good state of preservation. It is alive, the canvas has regained its plasticity, details that we had not seen before have emerged. The incredible, fantastic richness of this painting has emerged.

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Ilya Repin's chilling painting of Ivan the Terriblevandalised in 2018 by a drunk man with a metal polegoes back on show at Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery...

In a career that amounted to just 10 years, Vincent van Gogh created a varied body of work that continues to enchant people from around the world. His iconic Post-Impressionist style used a vibrant color palette and thick, expressive brushstrokes to convey the world around him. And while the Dutch artist succumbed to a gunshot wound at the age of 37, the weeks preceding his death were among his most productive periods as an artist.

Living and working in an artist town called Auvers-sur-Oise outside of Paris, he dedicated all of his time to painting, finishing one canvas a day, on average. His stylealready highly uniquebecame even bolder, and his compositions even more ambitious. Between the time he arrived in Auvers-sur-Oise in mid-May and his death on July 29, 1890, he created over 70 paintings, in addition to dozens of sketches and drawings.

Here we will learn more about Van Gogh's last year and take a look at a couple of paintings theorized to be his final work.

In May 1890, Vincent van Gogh (18531890) finally left the asylum near Saint-Rmy in France after living there for a year. Although he willingly checked himself into the facility the last May, he began to show signs of restlessness in his letters a couple of months before his departure.

The surroundings here are beginning to weigh me down more than I can say I need some air, I feel overwhelmed by boredom and grief, he writes to his brother, Theo van Gogh.

Nearly immediately after leaving the asylum, Van Gogh relocated to a small town outside of Paris called Auvers-sur-Oise, a popular destination for artists, where he was placed under the supervision of Dr. Paul Gachet, a physician and art collector.

There, he was also closer to his younger brother Theo, who worked in Paris and was responsible for financially supporting Van Gogh.

Van Gogh famously was never able to sustain himself as an artist and relied on Theo for financial and emotional support throughout his life.

Although this arrangement went through several periods of ups and downs, it appears as though Van Gogh was especially concerned about finances in the weeks leading up to his death.

At the time, Theo and his wife, Jo, were expecting a child, which would mean another person to support. Furthermore, Theo was considering leaving his job as an art dealer to start a business.

These changes very likely caused Van Gogh a great deal of anxiety, which likely transferred to the art he was producing at the time.

Upon arriving in Auvers-sur-Oise, Van Gogh threw himself into his work. He completed, on average, one painting a day. I am giving my canvases my undivided attention. I am trying to do as well as certain painters whom I have greatly loved and admired he writes to Theo.

While this renewed energy may have been his way of coping with some of the anxiety surrounding finances and his mental health, and certainly his loneliness, it's clear that the artist was extremely inspired by the landscape. Wheatfields became a reoccurring subject, and he rendered several from different times of the day and perspectives.

Not only that, but Van Gogh's late art also appears to reflect a change in his stylein which his canvases became even bolder, more expressive, and at times, even abstract.

In total, Van Gogh completed over 70 paintings between the time he arrived in Auvers-sur-Oise in late May and when he died on July 29, 1890.

While there is no clear consensus on which painting was Van Gogh's last completed workespecially since he rarely dated his paintingshistorians have made arguments for a couple of pieces that are confidently pinned to the month that the artist died.

The painting that was commonly believed to be Van Gogh's final work is Wheatfield With Crows. Although now there is enough evidence to counter this theory, this painting is among the last works he produced and one of his most highly regarded compositions.

As part of Van Gogh's Wheatfields series, this long work depicts a stretch of tall yellow wheat with a dirt path winding through the very middle of the canvas. Above the horizon is a dark blue, almost turbulent sky, dotted with flying crows. The dead-end trail, stormy sky, and crows have all been used as evidence of Van Gogh's possible mental state at the time.

Another one of Van Gogh's last paintingsand possibly even the last one he ever worked onis Tree Roots. Distinctly abstract and brightly colored, this piece depicts a view of tree trunks and tree roots, although it is not obvious at first glance. A letter from Theo's brother-in-law, Andries Bonger, provides evidence that this painting could have been Van Gogh's final work: The morning before his death, he painted a sous-bois [forest scene], full of sun and life, Bonger writes.

If that is the case, this painting provides a very different perspective of Van Gogh's mental state at the time of his death. Although Tree Roots is unfinished, it appears to be a celebration of nature's beauty.

What Is Cloisonnism? This Post-Impressionist Style Is Inspired by Stained Glass and Japanese Prints

Learn About the Colorful Art of French Post-Impressionist mile Bernard

6 Fascinating Facts About Post-Impressionist Pioneer Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

California Impressionism: How American Artists Adapted French Plein Air Painting

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Here Are the Last Paintings Vincent Van Gogh Completed During His Lifetime - My Modern Met

BRATTLEBORO Gallery in the Woods is pleased to show oil paintings by Bobby DiTrani for the month of June with an opening reception on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. as part of Gallery Walk.

DiTrani's work focuses on themes of mythology, archetype and implied narrative, often with an environmental undertone. "Beautifully rendered figures full of energy and light in devastated landscapes. Drawing from past and contemporary influences, new myths are transcribed for our times. A climate of unrest described hovering amongst the natural world," reads a description of his work.

DiTrani's formative years were spent in the once small logging town of North Bend, Washington, and the heavily deforested Pacific Northwest informs his work. He studied painting at the Aristides Classical Atelier at the Gage Academy of Art in Seattle and then set out to wander. Often living in different parts of the United States such as Washington, Vermont and New Orleans, DiTrani works wherever he establishes a studio. When not painting or drawing, he frequently tours the country with his band, DiTrani Brothers.

In addition to his personal body of work, Bobby DiTrani has created imagery for bands such as The Resonant Rogues, Intuitive Compass, Mike Antone, Isenordal, Impulse Noise, Asymmetric Warfare, and his own band, DiTrani Brothers. He has also recently finished a project with poet GennaRose Nethercott and Ninepin Press entitled "Lianna Fled the Cranberry Bog," in which he created over 200 illustrations to accompany a series of narrative prose.

For more information, go to Gallery in the Woods, 145 Main St. in Brattleboro, galleryinthewoods.com or call 802-257-4777.

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Gallery in the Woods to show oil paintings of local musician Bobby DiTrani - Brattleboro Reformer

Norman artist Leticia Galizzi is a native of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. She lived on both coasts of the United States before coming here four years ago.

As a way of gaining insight into the Oklahoma psyche and preparation for continuing artistic pursuits, she chose a unique method. Galizzi set up a table on a Main Street sidewalk and invited random passerby to write down their fondest wishes and leave them with her.

Without giving their names, but whatever wish they had would be written down and put in a box, she said. Eventually I will make paintings from this material for an exhibition. Of over 100 wishes, only one person wanted something material, and she wanted a dog. No one wished for a fancy car or anything like that. Many wanted to be better people.

Galizzi was impressed by the friendliness, generosity and character exhibited by her chance sample of Norman residents.

Some people asked me for more paper and they wrote front and back, she said. They were having fun with me, a person they dont know. It allowed me to see what kind of place I was coming to. It made me feel very happy and welcome here.

Galizzi is a spouse and mother of two. She holds graduate degrees in Applied Linguistics and Painting. She teaches Beginning Portuguese at the University of Oklahoma. Shes also an arts educator at the Firehouse Arts Center.

Resonator Institute hosted an April exhibition of her paintings in downtown Norman. Her work is bold, vibrant and attractive. Galizzi presides over public art appreciation sessions on Monday evenings at Benvenutis Ristorante (contact leticiagalizzi@gmail.com for information).

Choosing art was not an easy path for me, Galizzi said. I grew up in a dictatorship where art was almost not an option. Artists were considered people who did not work.

Galizzis undergraduate degree is in Business Administration. For a time, she worked at a hospital administration consulting firm, but was not passionate about it. Later, while working on the Linguistics Masters degree, she knew art was what she really wanted to study.

Creating as an artist now is what I always wanted to do, she said. Now that I have the opportunity, Im very intense about it. I wanted this for a long time. I get to have exhibitions and show my work.

Galizzi has a show in Nice, France this summer and one later this year at JRB Art at the Elms gallery in Oklahoma City. It has taken time, but Galizzi has learned not to overthink her art.

She connects it to her experience with psychotherapy.

People will ask what Im doing and I tell them I dont know, she said. It takes time, but then maybe I give myself permission to see what Im doing. When you let your subconscious show, sometimes its unknown to yourself. You dont know that its there. Sometimes you may be afraid of this. You may fear what you desire.

Stemming from her youth in the historic city of Ouro Preto with its cobblestone streets and Baroque architecture there are ornamental elements in Galizzis work.

The region I come from has a very particular kind of Baroque, she said. Its just part of my soul. Theres a desire to add it there and I use it in a very repetitive way. Its a way that I organize my thoughts.

Many of Galizzis paintings are large scale, which she admits can be draining to work on.

A big painting does not allow you to control the whole, she said. In a small painting, I look at everything and have very good control of what Im doing. A big painting demands a lot of courage, because you have to be brave with your gestures. If everything goes very wrong, you have to redo everything.

But theres no option except to be brave. If youre too precious about it, youll stop there. When I look at the whole, I may feel its not ready, so Ill need to come back and work on it. Its a process that demands a lot from my brain and a lot emotionally because of my need to take risks all the time.

Galizzis OU professor husband has suggested that possibly she could make her paintings smaller so theyd fit in the car. Her retort is that maybe he could author his books with fewer pages.

I want the challenge and surprise, she said. What I get back from that painting is being able to see the unseen and the ability to think about something that is bigger than me. I like that the canvas is a place where fears and desires can come out.

The rest is here:

Wish upon a painting: Norman artist explores desire and fear in her work - Norman Transcript

In oil painting, there are some "rules" which you should follow to avoid your paint cracking.

Fat over lean: As noted earlier, oil paint is basically colored pigment which is held together by some kind of drying oil. The more oil present, the "fatter" the paint is and the slower it will dry. In general, you want to make sure the top layers of paint are fatter (or oiler) than the lower layers. Otherwise, the layers on top will dry faster than the layers below and the paint will crack.

Thick over thin: The reasoning behind this rule is the same as the above rule. You want to make sure the paint at the top dries slower than the paint at the bottom. Thick paint will usually dry slower than thin paint.

In practice, I will start a painting with thin paint which has been mixed with some odorless solvent. Then I start using paint straight from the tube and take advantage of the paint texture.

TIP: Visible brushwork is a fantastic element of painting, but it is often overlooked by beginners. Below is a close-up of one of my paintings which demonstrates visible brushwork. This kind of visible brushwork is only possible when you use a brush loaded with thick paint.

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Oil Painting - The Ultimate Guide For Beginners - Draw ...

Easy painting ideas perfect for beginners

Looking for easy painting ideas? Whether you just started painting or yet to begin, this curated list of painting ideas (for adults and kids!) will inspire you to pickup a paintbrush and add some color to your life.

And create art that youll be proud of.

Whether youre looking for painting ideas for your wall, painting as a hobby, painting with your kids, family and friends, or use as sip and paint ideas, my wish for you is the enjoy the process of painting- no matter the outcome.

All you need to get started are some paints (of your choice), paintbrush, canvas, and the most important element: an open mind.

So you can create art that youll be proud of.

Before jumping into some awesome paint ideas, lets go over which type of paint to choose, and supplies youll need- since many beginners dont know where & how to start.

There are many types of paints you can start out with.

From watercolor, to oil, acrylic and gouache etc. the choices can seem overwhelming.

So what is the easiest paint for beginners?

Basic acrylic paints are the easiest paints for beginners (check out this Acrylic Painting for Beginners guide to learn more).

Compared to the other mediums, many artists / teachers agree that acrylic paint is easier than watercolors and oil paints. Acrylics are cheap, easy to handle and very forgiving among the paint types.

If youre looking to start a painting hobby then consider brushing up on the basics through a painting for beginners e-book.

This Acrylic For Beginners : A-Z Guide To Your First Acrylic Masterpiece will answer all your questions, guide you through easy painting tutorials for beginners while providing you with support and accountability as a beginner (plus extras).

That being said, below Ill give you plenty examples of easy things to paint with acrylics along with a few easy watercolor paintings ideas/tutorials too (since watercolors are quite popular too). The ideas below also work great for sip and paint parties.

If youre confused about the basic supplies youll need to get started, here are some bare essentials I would recommend.

Now that youre armed with the basics, time to pick your painting!

Heres some cool and easy painting ideas to inspire your inner (budding) artist

Below is the list of over 60 easy painting ideas.Whether youre just starting with acrylics or in painting rut, the ideas below will sprinkle you with some inspiration.

Landscape paintings are one of the first paintings that come to mind when thinking of things to paint. This beautiful (and easy) mountain landscape painting tutorial will show you how to paint a mountain, and paint in a gorgeous pink sunset sky. Climb over to the tutorial here > how to paint a mountain

Did you know you can use acrylic paint on wood slices? And these gorgeous cuts of pine and bas make unique paintings that you can display around your home, paint as ornaments, give as gifts, sell or just because. If youve never painted on wood, youll want to check out this tutorial on how to paint wood slice ornaments for everything you need to know.

Theres no easier way to start painting then to limit your palette to only 2 simple paint colors: black and white. Youll also learn how to paint the moon on a dramatic black canvas in this easy moon painting tutorial.

Moon dance over to the beginner step by step tutorial > How to Paint the Moon on Black Canvas

Beach paintings are one of the easiest and fun scenery / landscape type art to start out with.

In this beginners step by step tutorial youll learn to paint everything from an easy ocean wave, to sand beach (complete with a nifty texture ingredient you have in your kitchen), a dazzling seafoam pattern (its easier than it looks) and a cute starfish on the shoreline.

Swim on over to the tutorial > Easy beach painting with acrylics on canvas

Check out this easy tutorial (step-by-step tutorial with full length YouTube tutorial included) and learn how easy it can be to not only paint a monarch butterfly AND to actually draw one, free hand .

And dont worry you dont need any special drawing skills!

This tutorial is thoughtfully broken down into the easiest possibly steps that everyone can do (including kids!). Flutter on over to the tutorial and paint some gorgeous, vibrant butterflies > How to draw and paint a butterfly.

Even though this might look advanced, this 4 step rose technique is surprisingly easy and made for beginners. The step by step tutorial (with YouTube video) will teach you how to recreate gorgeous looking 3D roses in any color you choose! How to Paint Roses Tutorial

Paint this easy cherry blossom tree, with cotton swabs! This beginner tutorial is a fun way to get into painting while learning some paint mixing basics. And youll end up with a stunning piece you can decorate your home with! How To Paint a Cherry Blossom Tree

Painting a galaxy night sky is a great beginner easy painting idea for adults. In this tutorial (include full length YouTube tutorial) you will learn how to use a simple tool to create color blends (its easier than using a brush!).

Youll also learn an easy way to create realistic looking stars- that doesnt involve hand painting each one. Check out the tutorial for step by step directions. How to Paint a Galaxy

I created this easy acrylic flower painting tutorial for beginners in mind. I used some cheap Dollarstore paints, canvas and a nifty painting hack using Q-Tips. If youve never painted before, this is an ideal project to start with.

This also makes a fun painting idea for kids.

Youll also learn how to create a textured background using an ingredient you might have in your kitchen now.

Salt.

Check out the step by step tutorial to find out how to create this easy canvas painting. How To Paint Lavender Flowers

Learn to paint Hydrangeas with this fun and easy beginner technique using simple Q-tips and bubble wrap. Also learn how to make a gorgeous antique chinoise vase within a few easy steps! How to Paint Hydrangeas

Learn how paint a pumpkin the easy way, with a nifty brush technique that youll love! Youll also learn how to make a faux wood rustic/vintage background using some paint and a plastic fork! Its a super fun tutorial that includes video instruction. How To Paint a Pumpkin

Practice learning how to blend colors to make a beautiful sunset sky and finish off your painting with a custom skyline of the city you live in (or your favorite city to visit!). Also, youll have fun with some splatter paint techniques to make those magical stars in the sky! How to paint a sunset

Sunflowers are one of the easiest flowers to paint- so they are great for beginners to practice with. Check out this step by step tutorial and learn how to paint a bright and sunny sunflower using a basic sketch design ( FREE printable) that you can transfer to your canvas. How to paint a sunflower

Paint a mermaid and mermaid tail poking through the water in this moonlit mermaid & friends step by step painting tutorial.

This beginner level tutorial will show you how to make this beautiful vibrant painting with only 6 basic paint colors (lesson about how to create skin color paint too!) Paint a mermaid

Who says you should only paint on canvas? Paint easy beginner flowers on different surfaces, like water bottles. Find out how in this step by step tutorial on how to use acrylic paints to How to paint a Hydro Flask!

Learn how to paint clouds in this easy beginner tutorial. This tutorial uses an easy Q-tips technique to paint perfect clouds every time. The best part of this technique is how relaxing and enjoyable it is. If youre a beginner, you cant go wrong with this tutorial. How to paint clouds

Another non-canvas painting ideas is to use a simple rock or pebble as your canvas! Rock painting has gained huge popularity in recent times, as a craft from kids/teens and adults!

There are also many things you can use your painted rock for like gifting, selling, and even partaking in the Kindness Rocks Project. Learn everything you need to know in this How To Paint Rocks, including 10+ ideas to get you started.

Another fun easy painting idea for kids. Make these super easy heart paintings (even a kid can do!) with some simple Dollarstore Canvases, paints and NOT a single paintbrush! These paintings are painted normal household items like saran wrap/cling wrap, cotton swabs (q-tips), and a credit card! How to paint hearts

I love how Alexis created this beautiful Birch tree acrylic painting using a Credit card. Brilliant! This technique looks easy enough for beginners. I cant wait to try this painting technique myself. Also, digging the gold foil heart detail. Gorgeous!

This is a simple and easy painting idea for beginners on canvas. Birch tree painting

Daisies are a perfect flower to learn as a beginner painter, since they have pretty uniform/simple shaped petals.

In Tracys tutorial youll learn how to paint a simple daisy flower thats arranged in a small bouquet. Youll also learn how to recreate rustic looking wood panels with acrylic paints- something you can apply to many other paintings in the future.

Check out her awesome step by step tutorial to learn how to recreate this little piece of summer. How To Paint Daisies in a Jar

This is a cool and easy painting idea that shows you how to transfer quotes, text or any pattern from printed paper right onto your canvas (no need for graphite paper). This technique can be used in many mixed media/abstract type paintings or even trendy quote art paintings. AND with items you have at home.

Youll also learn how to make that cool watercolor background WITHOUT a drop of paint.

Find out how in the step by step tutorial. Tissue Paper Art

If you want to learn how to make abstract art on canvas, this tutorial will get you started. This beginner abstract painting uses some calming (ocean inspired) blue acrylic hues to create the abstract ocean wave background.

A simple gold leaf pen is used to create the butterflies in flight. An easy abstract painting idea that will infuse your home with some ocean-y calm vibes!

Check out the step by step tutorial. How to paint abstract butterflies

If youre looking for a very basic, super easy painting idea- this is it! Use an old painting, stickers, basic white paint, and your favorite song lyric to create this fun painting.

If you dont have an old painting to work with, why not practice spreading different colors of paint on a new canvas before adding your quote.

Splatter, pour, brush stroke away- all without worrying what it looks like!

Youll have fun exploring/experimenting with paint and still end up with a piece you can proudly display in your home (or even give as a gift- Christmas, birthdays , etc).Song Lyric Song Art

Sunset paintings are (usually) easy projects to start out with for beginners. This cactus sunset painting looks simple enough for most beginners. The tutorial uses watercolor paints, but this would also be an easy one to do in acrylics. Easy Watercolor Cactus Tutorial

Checkout another sunset painting- this time its a video tutorial. As the title of this video suggests, this tree sunset landscape scene is a good fit for first time painters and beginners. Palm Tree Sunset Painting Tutorial

Make this easy and (professional) looking painting that you can customize to your home decor color palette. Use a small canvas for decor in small rooms like a bathroom, or scale it up a bit on a giant/large canvas to hang above your bed or in the living room.

Either ways everyone will be amazed when they find out you created this masterpiece with some inexpensive paint and some dabbers. DIY canvas painting for beginners

Make this diversity painting, thats a suitable project for teens, adults and also for kids. Learn how to mix a skin tone paint swatch with 4 basic colors: red, blue, yellow, and white. Diversity Painting.

Metallic paints are fun to work with, especially with abstract accent art pieces like these. Use metallics to augment your paintings visual interest with their reflective qualities.

Whether theyre used in a paintings details or as the main focus (like these glamorous paintings ), metallics can really transform the look and drama of the art.

But make sure you work with a good quality gold paint to get the best impact. Easy Metallic Abstract Art Tutorial.

Fluid art (a.k.a acrylic pour paintings) has become a very popular acrylic technique in the past few years. It can be a fun and easy way to start exploring acrylics with- as long as you dont mind the cleanup afterwards!

You can choose colors that complement your home decor so that you can proudly hang it in your living room, family room, home office etc. afterwards. Abstract Fluid Painting Tutorial.

If you want to create large scale canvas art, checkout how this blogger uses a large canvas and some simple/cheap painters tape and some bold contrasting colors to make this gorgeous art for her dining room decor.

Looks professionally made. Well done! Modern Geometric Large Canvas Art Tutorial

Splatter painting is a super fun painting method to learn (and you can apply it to so many paintings further down the road).

Use some beautiful complementary colors, like this magenta and orange- to add a splash of color to any room in your home. Youll have so much fun making this one, you might want to make a few of them! Splatter Art Painting Tutorial

Adding bold texture to a canvas is an easy & fast way to create modern and stylish art especially if youre a beginner! This tutorial is a great way to explore adding texture to paintings- which will open doors to what you can create and/or paint or even level up your current paintings.

When youre done, hang this painting in your living room (like in the picture above), bedrooms, other spaces in your home to enhance your decor with some original (by you) art!Easy Texture Art Tutorial

Another bright and cheery sunflower canvas painting to add to your walls. Check out Tracys step by step tutorial to learn how easy it is to make this happy piece.

Another great example of easy paint night ideas. Bright Sunflower Tutorial

Learn some nifty paint splatter techniques (using a toothbrush) with this magical galaxy outer space painting.

This would make for some cool decor for a kids rooms / playrooms! OR for an intergalactic themed paint night party! Galaxy Painting Tutorial

Learning how to paint trees with a fan brush is another easy (and valuable) painting technique to learn for beginners. This patriotic American Flag in the night sky is a fun art piece, to boot! Super creative! American Flag Sky Tutorial

Jump into watercolors by learning how to paint some pretty and colorful flowers and whimsical leaves.

As a bonus, you can decorate your walls with this on-trend watercolor flower painting. Watercolor Flower Art

Learn how fun and easy painting roses can be using a piece of celery! This flower painting tutorial will also show you 5 other easy ways to paint flowers using some unexpected items.

Get your kids to make this easy acrylic pour painting to use in your home decor. They will be super proud their art is on display for all to see- and you might just unleash a budding artist in the midst.

A fun addition to your list of easy painting ideas for kids. Children (big and small) will enjoy getting creatively messy! Pour Painting for Kids

Sunsets is an easy painting idea for beginners to learn. Follow this step by step tutorial and learn how to paint an easy sunset with this popular painting.

I think this would also be a hit at a paint night, especially a late summer one! I love the shadowed hot air balloons , very reminiscent of late summer/early fall.sunset with hot air balloons tutorial

If youre looking to make large canvas art for your living room, or perhaps a bedroom, then this art piece is a gorgeous one to mimic.

The beauty of the abstract style is that you can start painting without planning too much, letting go of perfection, and just going with the flow. Large Canvas Art Tutorial

Learn how to create a super cute unicorn painting with this easy to follow tutorial. Would make a great project for teens and older kids. Unicorn Painting Tutorial

Try this easy acrylic pouring paint technique to create these gorgeous art pieces. Mix and match colors and create a few at a time for even more variation. Pour Painting Tutorial

This abstract flower painting looks really fun, whether you decide to make it with friends at a paint and sip type of party (like suggested in the post) or even on your own (wine optional!).

This painting would also be a great addition to a list of easy paint night ideas. Customized the background or color of flowers for your own twist!Abstract Flower Painting Tutorial

Use a canvas, simple ruler and cheap acrylic craft paint to create this trendy modern geometric abstract art. You can easily swap out the blue tones with different colors. Easy, fun and makes for some fabulous home decor. Geometric Abstract Painting Tutorial.

Learn step-by-step on how to create a large red poppy flower with acrylic paints.

Excerpt from:

60+ Easy Acrylic Painting Ideas For Beginners (Who Want To ...

Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens,The Sense of Smell, 16171618 Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

A work of art has the power to transport its viewer to another time and place. Now, the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid, Spain, is taking that idea one step further with a new exhibition that incorporates smell to enhance the experience of a 17th-century painting.

Per a statement from the museum, The Essence of a Painting: An Olfactory Exhibition focuses exclusively on The Sense of Smell, a work created by Belgian artists Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens between 1617 and 1618. The show, on view through July 3, invites visitors to not only look at the oil painting but also smell ten scents inspired by it.

For the show, Alejandro Vergara, the museums chief curator of Flemish and Northern European paintings, partnered with Gregorio Sola, a senior perfumer at Barcelona-based fashion and fragrance company Puig and an academic at the Academia del Perfume in Madrid.

Sola developed new fragrances based on elements of the painting, which depicts Venus and Cupid surrounded by exotic flowers, birds, animals, and objects related to perfume (such as distillation vessels and scented gloves). The scent Fig Tree, for example, brings the refreshing, vegetal scent of the fruit tree in the painting to life, while Allegorywhich combines rose, jasmine and carnationembodies the bouquet of flowers Venus is smelling.

According toa statement from the Academia del Perfume, other featured fragrances include an amber-scented leather glove, orange blossoms, jasmine, roses, lilies, daffodils, civet (a perfume ingredient made from the secretions of a carnivorous cat) and nard (an oil derived from a flowering plant).

Our olfactory memory is stronger than our visual or auditory memory: the memory of our mothers perfume, of our first kiss, of our first car, or of the first day at school with the smell of new pencils and paints, Sola tells the Guardians Sam Jones. We all have our own olfactory memory and the idea of this exhibition is that Jan Brueghels painting will leave its own memorable olfactory print on all of us.

Museum visitors can smell the various fragrances by touching a photo of the painting on four digital screens dotted across a gallery. A diffuser that uses special AirParfum technology created by Puig then emits the perfume. The goal of the technology, which has been installed in retail stores throughout Europe, is to allow individuals to smell many different perfumes without oversaturating their noses.

The Sense of Smell is part of the artists The Five Senses series, which also includes The Sense of Touch, The Sense of Taste, The Sense of Hearing and The Sense of Sight. Brueghel painted the scenes for the pieces, while Rubens painted the allegorical figures. The five works are all on view in the same room at the Prado.

Per the Academia del Perfume statement, the series was likely commissioned by Albert VII of Austria and Isabella Clara Eugenia, Archduchess of Austria and the daughter of Philip II of Spain. Brueghel worked as a court painter for the couple.

I had a sense that people do not pay enough attention to Brueghel, Vergara tells Artnets Dorian Batycka. His attention to detail, often miniaturistic, shows a keen sensitivity to the five senses. All that I was really trying to do was call attention to the sense of joy that these works produce in me, hoping that others will seeand smellthis as well.

The Essence of a Painting: An Olfactory Exhibition is on view at the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid, Spain, through July 3.

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For the first time in 40 years, Italian Renaissance masterDonatello(ca. 13861466) has a major solo showand the curator,Francesco Caglioti, hopes the blockbuster exhibition will help elevate the master sculptor to the level of fame enjoyed by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo.

The reason Donatello has been eclipsed in the public eye by his countrymen?

Its simply due to the fact that he was a sculptor and not a painter,Caglioti, a medieval art history professor at the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, told Artnet News. Donatello was a pioneer of perspective, and his work anticipated photography and cinema. He is really very modern. Donatello is the best sculptor, perhaps, who ever existed.

The exhibitions two venues, the Bargello National Museum and the Palazzo Strozzi, both in Florence, approached Caglioti about curating the show some years ago, but hes been researching the artist for around 30 years, and believes Donatellos contributions to the art-historical canon have been wrongfully overshadowed by achievements in painting.

Donatello, Crucifix 1408). Collection of the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence, property of the Fondo Edifici di Culto, Ministry of the Interior. Photo by George Tatge.

The Renaissance was the triumph of sculpture, Caglioti said. And Donatello was a father of the Renaissance.

The artists of the period were inspired largely by marble statues carved by the ancient Greeks and Romans, not paintings, of which few survived.

We have to change our perspective on art history, Caglioti said. The Renaissance is a sculptural period par excellence.

Donatello: The Renaissance on view at theBargello National Museum in Florence. Photo by Ela Bialkowska/OKNO studio.

By bringing together an unprecedented number of works by the sculptor, Donatello: The Renaissance could very well help upset that hierarchy.

The130 pieces on view in whats been dubbed a once-in-a-lifetime outing pair Donatellos sculpture with paintings by his contemporaries and artists who came hundreds of years later, illustrating his lasting influence.

Andrea del Castagno, Farinata degli Uberti (ca. 144849). Collection of the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Galleria delle Statue e delle Pitture, Florence, courtesy of Ministero della Cultura, Gabinetto Fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi.

The show includes pieces from the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Louvre in Paris; the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Caglioti was also able to secure loans of Donatello sculptures that had never before traveled, such as works from the baptistry in Siena and the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, and even the bronze sacristy doors from across town at the Basilica of San Lorenzo.

For the show, many of the works have been carefully conserved by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, a public institute of the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage that specializes in art restoration. The delicate task required soft-bristle brushes and porcupine quills, treating the centuries-old works with steamed demineralised water and other gentle cleansers before applying a protective coat of microcrystalline wax.

Donatello, The Feast of Herod (142327), seen before and after restoration. Collection of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, Siena, baptismal font. Photo by Bruno Bruchi, courtesy of the Opera della Metropolitana.

They cleaned the bronzes, discovering the very gold covering that was completely hidden by centuries and centuries of dirt and filth,Caglioti said. They are very brilliant, with a golden surface that nobody had seen for centuriesthey looked almost black.

(The cleaned works will be shown alongside sculptures that have yet to undergo conservation, and will head to theOpificio delle Pietre Dure once the exhibition ends.)

One of the statues from the baptismal font at Siena Cathedral being cleaned with a porcupine quill. Photo courtesy of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence.

The show also includes the artists pioneering marble sculptureSt. George (141517), made for Florences Orsanmichele church and an early example of perspective in Renaissance art, and his bronze David (ca. 1440), believed by some art historians to be Western arts first free-standing nude male sculpture since ancient times. (Both are from the Bargello.)

Having the show in Florence means visitors can follow with a trip to the citys Opera del Duomo Museum, home to an impressive collection of Donatello works.

If you come to Florence,Caglioti said, you will have a very very large vision of Donatellos oeuvre.

See more works from the show below.

Donatello, David Victorious (153540). Collection of the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence. Photo by Bruno Bruchi, courtesy of the Ministero della Cultura.

Donatello, Virgin and Child (Del Pugliese Dudley Madonna), ca. 1440. Collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Donatello, Virgin and Child (Piot Madonna), ca. 1440. Collection of the Musee du Louvre, Paris. Photo by Stephane Marechalle, 2021 RMN-Grand Palais/Dist. Photo SCALA, Firenze.

Donatello, Attis-Amorino (ca. 143540). Collection of the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence. Photo by Bruno Bruchi, courtesy of the Ministero della Cultura.

Masaccio, Saint Paul from the Carmine Polyptych (1426). Collection of the Museo Nazionale di San Matteo, Pisa. Courtesy of Ministero della Cultura, Direzione regionale Musei della Toscana, Florence.

Donatello, Hope (142729). Collection of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, Siena, baptismal font. Photo by Bruno Bruchi, courtesy of the Opera della Metropolitana.

Donatello, Leaves of the Door of the Apostles (ca. 144042). Collection of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Old Sacristy, Opera Medicea Laurenziana, Florence. Photo by Bruno Bruchi.

Donatello, Leaves of the Door of the Martyrs (ca. 144042). Collection of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Old Sacristy, Opera Medicea Laurenziana, Florence. Photo by Bruno Bruchi.

Andrea Mantegna, Virgin and Child (ca. 149095), Collection of the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan.

Donatello, Saint John the Baptist of Casa Martelli (ca. 1442). Collection of the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence. Photo by Bruno Bruchi, courtesy of the Ministero della Cultura.

Donatello, Saint George Slaying the Dragon and Freeing the Princess (141517). Collection of the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence. Photo by Bruno Bruchi, courtesy of the Ministero della Cultura.

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Virgin and Child (Madonna of the Stairs), ca. 1490. Collection of the Casa Buonarroti, Florence. Photo by Antonio Quattrone.

Giovanni Bellini, Dead Christ Tended by Angels (Imago Pietatis), ca. 1465. Collection of the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, Museo Correr, Venice.

Donatello, Miracle of the Mule (ca. 144649). Collection of the Basilica of SantAntonio. Archivio Fotografico Messaggero di santAntonio, Padua. Photo by Nicola Bianchi.

Desiderio da Settignano, David Victorious (Martelli David) ca. 146264. Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Donatello, Virgin and Child (Madonna of the Clouds), ca. 1425-1430. Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Donatello and Michelozzo, Dance of Spiritelli (143438). Collection of the Museo dellOpera del Duomo, Prato, Diocese of Prato.

Donatello, Reliquary of Saint Rossore (ca. 142225). Collection of the Museo Nazionale di San Matteo, Pisa, courtesy of Ministero della Cultura, Direzione regionale Musei della Toscana, Florence.

Donatello, David Victorious (140809). Collection of the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence. Photo by Bruno Bruchi, courtesy of the Ministero della Cultura.

Donatello, Virgin and Child (ca. 1415). Collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Skulpturensammlung und Museum fur Byzantinische Kunst. Photo by Antje Voigt.

Donatello, The Virgin and Child (ca. 1425). Collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Donatello: The Renaissance is on view at theBargello National Museum,Via del Proconsolo, 4, 50122, Florence, and thePalazzo Strozzi, Piazza degli Strozzi, 50123, Florence,March 19July 31, 2022. It will travel as Donatello: Founder of the Renaissance to theStaatliche MuseumPreuischer Kulturbesitz, Stauffenbergstrae 41, 10785 Berlin, Germany, September 2, 2022January 8, 2023, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL, United Kingdom,February11June11,2023.

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A Once-in-a-Lifetime Donatello Show Argues That Sculpture, Not Painting, Was the Ultimate Renaissance Art Form - artnet News

Last year, Utah dedicated its 2021 season to honoring two teammates, Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe, who passed away within a year of one another. That commitment to the pair will continue in 2022. At some point during the upcoming season, the Utes will wear custom, hand-painted helmets honoring Jordan and Lowe. Utah revealed the new look during a post-credits scene of its"22 FOREVER" documentary series.

The incredible helmets feature paintings of both Jordan and Lowe by Nebraska-based artist Armando Villarreal, along with the "22 Forever" logo that Utah has used before. There is a clip of Villarreal painting the helmets near the end of the documentary.

Utah previously wore hand-painted helmets and special uniforms during a shocking 38-7 upset of then-No. 3 Oregon last season. The Utes' uniforms in 2021 paid tribute to the U.S.S. Salt Lake City ship that fought in the Pacific during World War II. Those helmets were all hand-painted by Villarreal, who previously helped paint a throwback Utah helmet in 2019.

Jordan and Lowe were high school teammates from Mesquite, Texas, who passed away in separate incidents within a year. Jordan diedfrom an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound on Christmas Day in 2020, just days after being named Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year. Lowe was killed on Sept. 26, 2021, in a house party shooting in Salt Lake City hours after Utah's Homecoming win against Washington State. Lowe previously changed his number to No. 22 in honor of Jordan and was the recipient of the Ty Jordan Memorial Scholarship.

After the tragedy, Utah announced the the program would retire the No. 22 and paint a memorial to the players at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

No information has been released at this point about which game the painted helmets will be worn. However, the Utes' previous hand-painted helmets were both worn in key November games.

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Utah reveals custom hand-painted helmets to honor fallen teammates Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe - CBS Sports

Breakout

Brief chats with people who are doing things that thrill them.

Cassi Namoda. Photo: Alina Asmus

Some would say your late 20s are a little bit late these days to start a career as a painter, which is weird and unfortunate, says Mozambique-born artist Cassi Namoda, 33. After studying cinematography at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and working for fashion designer Maryam Nassir Zadeh sourcing artisanal pieces from abroad for the store to sell Namoda turned to painting from a very personal place. She was living in Los Angeles and yearning for home. Theres a term in Portuguese, saudade, thats a longing that cant be replaced, she says. A self-taught artist, she began showing paintings in a friends living room, then another friends bookshop, building a career through word of mouth. Now she is represented by Goodman Gallery and Franois Ghebaly.

Most recently, Namoda has been painting in Cape Town, South Africa, for a show there this summer. Me choosing to physically be here is me saying that I want to engage with the people, she says. I dont want to just send paintings over and be like, All right, sell them. Later this year, shell spend time in Guatemala City working on a show involving ceramics, drawing, performance, and video art in an open floor plan for the experimental gallery Proyectos Ultravioleta. Her mode of traveling and painting from new places is intentional, a way to slow things down in an industry that can otherwise get really commercial really fast.

Namoda spoke with the Cut about her artistic journey, her inspirations, and why the light in East Hampton, where shes based, is unlike that of anywhere else.

What in your early life put you on a path to be a painter?

It was my time spent observing nature in Kenya, where I lived when I was about 6. I was so in love with these animals that I so badly wanted to have pictures of them in my room. I would obsessively draw them whenever we would come back from safari, and that stuck with me. I was drawing consistently up until middle school.

When I was 25, I moved to L.A., and the geographic position of Los Angeles, for me, felt very alienating. So painting became this form in which I decided to start negotiating my homesickness. I was surprised because I have a natural tendency to be a writer. Painting had been something I had always done growing up, but school interrupted that path for me so I found other forms of expression.

I just started drawing again. It feels very vulnerable; its like writing to me. My next show, called Tropical Depression at Xavier Hufkens in Brussels, is essentially large drawings with a minimal amount of paint.

You said you started painting because you were homesick. As someone born in Mozambique who lived in Indonesia, Kenya, Benin, and Haiti, what has home come to mean to you?

I call Mozambique home, though its not home. Its my ancestral interior. My mothers there, my familys there, my grandparents are in the earth there. Growing up, we moved around quite often. My father had different notions about living and experience and that one must see the world. That also benefits my practice. If I look at Emil Noldes work, or even Gauguin or van Gogh, these painters would travel, and they would exist in these places. In some ways, there was also an exotification of these paradises, these foreign lands. But Im not exotifying; Im existing in a Black body. Ive lived in many places. I understand the world in a way that is beyond a textbook but more about the nuances. So I feel like I can be anywhere Budapest or Tangiers or Kyoto and feel very excited about some sort of familiarity in the sensation of a new experience. We need novelty in our human experience. But then I need to retreat and sit with it all. I guess East Hampton is that place for me right now.

What thrills you about being a painter?

Its almost like youre always negotiating with yourself. You have to sit with yourself at the end of the day and ask, Is this really me? When that can be answered, then I know Ive made something honest, authentic. At the end of the day, if Im not painting, I feel incomplete in a way.

When you began painting in L.A., how did you support yourself with your art?

When I started, I was really shocked that all my friends wanted the paintings. It was such an amazing thing. All I needed to do, really, was sell one or two paintings a month, and that would help. Also, keep in mind, my work on paper was selling for $500 to $1,000 my watercolors and paper didnt even cost a fraction of that. My materials werent really the issue, and I didnt need a studio. It wasnt until much later, when I was painting on canvas and I had people more curious, that I was like, Okay, I guess I have to have studio visits not in my exs garage. And I got a little studio.

Now, painting supports my lifestyle, but at the same time, I dont want to overproduce. Its a purely logistical business way of approaching work. You cant flood the market. There has to be a sort of preciousness to the painting. Its also very physical. I dont have an assistant, so doing collaborative projects with brands like J.Crew helps. Whether it be the perfume I did with Linda Sivrican or my collection with J.Crew though the perfume project was purely charity-based Im curious to create nuances within collaboration that can still have the spirit of the art.

You recently worked on a textile for Marimekko and launched a jewelry collaboration with Catbird last summer. How do you tie your interests in other areas to your painting?

I need my brain to work in different ways. Everything informs something else. Now Im taking ballet, so that is informing something about my practice, about me as a person. It makes your feet so strong that now I cant paint with shoes on. My feet are like, No, Ive got this. I have the ground. Once I get back into the studio, refreshed, having learned something new, my mind works in a different way.

How does living and working in New York or having that home base in East Hampton inform your art?

I carved out a pretty nice situation for myself there. I like the history of artists that have come before me. Jackson Pollocks studio is less than five minutes away from mine. Just knowing that exists there, as a pillar, is really cool. Thinking about Helen Frankenthaler theres something about it that almost gives me more energy.

The colors also inform me. Theres something really special about the light there. It feels like a piece of land has just drifted off into a soft morning sunrise, and it kind of stays like that. And my relationship to the sunset has been really important to me. Stopping my studio practice, rushing to the ocean to watch the sunset, and retreating back to working its almost like time moves in a very circular fashion for me there, which I feel is very ancestral. Its a good place to retreat. I dont have many distractions there. And when I need to go into the city and eat at Balthazar at eight in the morning and then jump and see a couple shows, see a couple friends, that has its place too. We always need to recharge and see other people.

As you mentioned, your work makes use of color. Whats your approach to the vibrant hues you use?

I eventually want to make my own pigments. I think this is where its going. When it comes to painting, usually what I will do is Ill just stare at sketches, for sometimes a month, before I even decide what colors to embody in the work. Then I start living and breathing those colors and it just shows up in many different ways.

When I did Mendes Woods exhibition in So Paulo, it was this really bright fuchsia with this opaque black and this powder blue. That was a very tight-paletted show. I was working in the lens of mourning and grieving because it was a very hard time in Brazil and in the world with COVID. The fuchsia is symbolic of compassion.

I also think about color in the realm of spirituality. Any religious philosophy or theology has colors that embody it. In Hinduism, marigold is really strong. The Catholic church also has its specific colors. I think color is probably a religious approach to painting.

Do you feel like your presence in the art world and your growth serve some sort of social duty?

One hundred percent. Thats just what happens with any sort of frame of work once a certain status is given. I like to be able to connect and show people. In 2018, when I presented my first show, at Nina Johnson in Miami, Id invite the local postman and the woman who braided my hair, and they would just come and see, and they were just so taken aback by the scale.

Even yesterday, a girl from the caf next door said, What are you doing? Youre always covered in paint. I said, Im a painter. And shes like, What? Shes from Zimbabwe. And I said, Why dont you come by? She came at the end of the day, and she was just like, Wow, you are doing this? I didnt know that we could do this. I didnt know Black women could do this. Thats why I talk about accessibility. Because these ideas are not often introduced on this continent. If I can be around to just chat in a very democratic way with people, that feels good to me.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

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This Mozambique-Born Artist Is Changing What It Means to Be a Painter - The Cut