Art Trivia — Did You Know?Did you know that in ancient times, it was believed that certain colours could combat the evil spirits that lingered over nurseries. Because blue was associated with the heavenly spirits, boys were clothed in that colour, boys then being considered the most valuable resource to parents. Although baby girls did not have a colour associated with them, they were mostly clothed in black. It was only in the Middle Ages when pink became associated with baby girls. (I'm glad we think differently nowadays...)
Did you know that when Auguste Rodin exhibited his first important work, The Bronze Period, in 1878, it was so realistic that people thought he had sacrificed a live model inside the cast. (I wonder if anyone checked to see...?)
Did you know that Degas once painted a portrait of Manet and his wife. As the story goes, in the painting Manet was on one side listening to his wife play the piano. Manet hated the portrait of his wife so much that he cut that end off the painting! Word somehow got back to Degas, and needless to say, he was quite steamed – and returned to the Manet household and took the remains of the painting back!
Did you know that Beatrice Wood, a potter, was the inspiration for the character “Rose” in Director, James Dameron’s movie, Titanic. He met with her just before she died at the young age of 105. (Quite the lady, I'd say...)
Did you know that in 1971 Picasso became the first “living” painter to have an exhibition at The Louvre, in honor of his 90th birthday. (He was quite the painter and as no shortage of his infamous qotes indicate, he was also quite the character...)
“Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.”
“God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant, and the cat. He has no real style. He just keeps on trying other things.”
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
“Are we to paint what's on the face, what's inside the face, or what's behind it?”
More Quotations — Inspiration for All
“There's painters...and then there's artists. The same happens in life...” (anonymous)
“If people knew how hard I worked to achieve my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful after all.” (Michelangelo)
“I hope that something will come out of so much effort…” (Claude Monet)
“Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better. (Andre Gide)
“Art is never finished, only abandoned.” (Leonardo da Vinci)
“I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process.” (Vincent Van Gogh)
* We’d like to thank all those whose did the research and discovered these amusing details of the lives of infamous artists. We’ve only gleaned these from readily available public information. Anything listed above is for your informative amusement and pleasure. We cannot vouch for its authenticity though we do believe that it all comes from knowledgeable and reliable sources.
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