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Art

Kehinde Wiley’s Portrait of President Barack Obama

February 25, 2018 romicortier@yahoo.com Leave a comment

Presidential Portrait of Barack Obama, Kehinde Wiley, Oil on Canvas, 2018

Artist Kehinde Wiley and President Barack Obama, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Official Portrait Unveiling.

President Barack Obama’s official Portrait by Kehinde Wiley was unveiled at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Monday February 12th, 2018. The portrait has been met with criticism by some, and applauded by others. I for one am a huge fan of Wiley’s portrait. That said, I wanted to try and wrap my mind around some of the controversy that I’d seen on social media from those who felt it wasn’t ‘on par’ with the tone and tenor of previous Presidential Portraits. So I decided to do some research…

John F. Kennedy Presidential Portrait, Elaine de Kooning, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery

William Jefferson Clinton, Presidential Portrait by Chuck Close, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery

What I discovered is that President Barack Obama wasn’t the first to buck classic portraiture for his official portrait. Both John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton are represented by the avant-garde artist of their day. As is frequently the case, stories on social media are tailored to reinforce a specific point of view. Namely, that Obama was wack for choosing such an outrageous artist that didn’t represent the traditional norms of the office. When taking a closer look at the ‘norms’, one can clearly see that there’s been a broader range of painting styles presented at the Smithsonian over the years. Follow the link below to view all of the Presidential Portraits from the last century.

Artnet News: 100 years of Presidential Portraits

I’ve been a fan of Kehinde Wiley for over a decade, and was thrilled to see his paintings on the tv show EMPIRE. It’s a brilliant choice to have a fictional character like Lucious Lyon, a black music mogul, fill his home with the art of such a highly regarded black artist, thus supporting those at the top of his community.

Here are a few more examples of Wiley’s work.

Starlit Nights, Kehinde Wiley, Oil on Canvas, 2013 — Starlit Nights, Oil on Canvas, Kehinde Wiley, 2005

LL Cool J, Oil on Canvas, Kehinde Wiley, 2005

Jean de Carondelet III, Oil on Canvas, Kehinde Wiley, 2013

As an artist, I absolutely love the magnificent size of his paintings, as well as the lusciousness of the background behind his subjects. His ability to beautifully render skin tones is out of this world, and to quote Obama: I was struck by the degree to which they challenged our ideas of power and privilege. Kehinde juxtaposes contemporary urban culture with centuries old postures and wallpaper like backgrounds.

When I composed my own painting of President Barack Obama in 2011, I also chose a lush green background to represent his emotional life. I wanted my image to be reminiscent of a gothic stain glass window with the presidential seal as his halo. My overall theme was about the religious fervor surrounding the election of our first African American President. The ionic column represents democracy, with the red and blue states being represented on their respective sides of the column, blue on the left, red on the right.

Obama and the Tree of Knowledge, Oil on Canvas, Artist Romi Cortier

For Wiley, he wove chrysanthemum into the greenery of the background (the official flower of Chicago), and Jasmine for Hawaii, as well as African Blues symbolic of Obama’s heritage. Like the fictional character Lucious Lyon, President Barack Obama chose one of the finest artist from the black community to forever represent the first African American President in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. It was a bold choice that I absolutely applaud, and I believe it will certainly pass the test of time. Great men must be ahead of the curve, not behind it, paving the way for others to follow.

www.kehindewiley.com

Art

The Art of Romi Cortier

April 25, 2016 romicortier@yahoo.com 2 Comments

Sprite in the Garden, Pink Tulip, The Art of Romi Cortier, Available on Blurb & Amazon

Chocolate Covered Almonds, The Art of Romi Cortier, Available on Blurb & Amazon

The Art of Romi Cortier, available on Blurb & Amazon — Butterfly Barbra, The Art of Romi Cortier, Available on Blurb & Amazon

Romi Cortier, The Art of Romi Cortier, Photo Steven James Scott

I’m so proud to present my new book The Art of Romi Cortier.

It all began when a client suggested that I should create a little portfolio of my artwork for the reception area of my salon. Sure, great idea, maybe I’ll do an ibook, but that takes so much time, I think I need to hire someone to help me. The idea takes off like a snowball rolling down a hill. It needs a foreword, an interview with the artist, maybe some studio shots, what painting should go on the cover… so many decisions.

Self publishing a book is a bold endeavor, especially when it’s your first. I was fortunate to have two very talented people help me bring my concept to reality: Annie Ruby and Steven James Scott. I needed someone else’s eyes to look at the work without an emotional attachment and organize the images in a way that made sense. My works on paper are my newest series, and I wanted them to take up a major portion of the book. They’ve been so successful and sold so quickly, that very few people even know the images exist. In total there are over 40 pages of artwork, not to mention a very kind and generous foreward by Ellie Blankfort, of Ellie Blankfort Fine Art.

Ellie has been a salon client for many years, and more often than not, our conversations behind the chair turn to art. She works as a coach, mentor, and artist advisor to beginning and mid career artists. Getting to meet successful people from all walks of life is one of the perks of my business. That’s also how I met Mel Yoakum Ph. D who authored three books on the work of Francoise Gilot. He taught me so much about the business of art that I need to include in him in the thank you section of the book.

The Art of Romi Cortier can be found on Blurb and Amazon. I hope you’ll take a moment to check it out, and I’d be beyond thrilled if you could also review it… the more stars the better!

Ellie Blankfort

The Art of Romi Cortier, find it on Blurb and Amazon

Art

Palm Springs Pool Series Paintings

August 13, 2014 romicortier@yahoo.com Leave a comment

'Bigger Towel', Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier — ‘Bigger Towel’, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier

'Towel' Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier — ‘Towel’, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier

'Curved Towel' Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier — ‘Curved Towel’, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier

'Pink Striped Towel', Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier — ‘Pink Striped Towel’, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30, Romi Cortier

This is my Palm Springs Pool Series of Paintings, inspired by photos that I took around the pool of my mid-century home in Palm Springs. It’s amazing how something as simple as a Barbie Towel from Target can take on a whole new life when draped over the edge of the pool. Faded after years of use, the old towel’s tones became richer and more saturated in the water, which made for great photos and even greater paintings.

I painted this sequential series of paintings (the top three) all at the same time. This was a new approach for my work, as I’d never had the required studio space to work on so many paintings at one time.

These paintings are larger in size than their actual environment, and they’re also very tight compositions of moments that most people don’t notice. Therefore, when they’re viewed in person, people have a difficult time understanding what they are. They often see the geometry in the images, but not ‘what they are’. Once they finally see it, there’s a big ‘ah hah’ moment.

I’m a big fan of the artist Francoise Gilot. I had the pleasure of meeting her about 8 years ago at a spectacular gallery opening of her works on the upper east side in Manhattan. I was so captivated by the large scale geometry of her work, that it challenged me to see images in a different way. At the time of the show, she was about 85, and I found the boldness and modernness of her work remarkable for someone of her age. But why should age have anything to do with the quality or tone of your work? It was my perception of how I thought an older woman should paint. But this is a woman who has been painting for over 70 years, and who spent a decade with Pablo Picasso. In her book, Life with Picasso, she talked about how Pablo challenged her to distill her work, and say more with fewer strokes of the brush. Reduce. Reduce. Reduce. Paint the image, then take some of it away.

Over the years, I’ve continued to let this concept resonate with me. In the above paintings, I also focused on texture. Francoise will often use her fingers to create surface texture in her paintings, so I gave that a try with the different colors of the towels. I used a stippling brush technique with the concrete pool coping, and chose an uber smooth finish for the pool tile. The water brushstrokes are very horizontal and blended, creating a mirroring effect of the surrounding tones. These elements combined together, create a true richness to the overall finished product. Interestingly enough, I haven’t sold a single one of these paintings. So lets hope the test of time works in my favor and some savvy and sophisticated collector falls in love with these works and simply has to have them. If not.. I’m happy to enjoy them myself.

Art

Surrealist Inspired Wall Mural

July 30, 2014 romicortier@yahoo.com Leave a comment

Surrealist Mural, Creating the composition

Tracing the Branch before Painting the Surrealist Wall Mural

Painting the Branches of the Surrealist Mural

Painting the Clouds of the Surrealist Wall Mural

Surrealist Wall Mural, Concept and Completion by Romi Cortier — Surrealist Wall Mural, Entry Hall Landing, Concept and Completion by Romi Cortier

This is the Surrealist Inspired Wall Mural that I painted in 2008, Inspired by LACMA’s 2006 Rene Magritte exhibit: Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images.

Surrealism can be defined as Contradictions of Dream and Reality, including the element of Surprise, Unexpected Juxtapositions and Non Sequitur. My objective with this mural was to turn a second floor indoor entry landing, into an area that felt like it might be outdoors, complete with tree branches and floating clouds. However, based on a few of the previous Youtube comments regarding this mural, some viewers felt that the mural wasn’t Surrealism at all, at least not in the way that they know it. Think Salvador Dali’s Melting Clocks, or Max Ernst‘s Les Hommes n’en Sauront, known as the first Surrealist Painting. Yes, those images are classic Surrealism. I simply wanted this little landing to feel like it might be floating in the palest of blue skies, with a few clouds and tree branches surrounding it. I believe that meets the definition of Surrealism. It’s so easy for people to be ‘armchair activists’ or ‘arm chair art critics’ then to actually go out into the world and create something. To quote a friend of mine: sometimes you have to consider which horses ass it’s coming from, and take it with a grain of salt.

Therefore, let me tell you how I created this Surrealist Inspired Wall Mural. Notice how saturated the ecru or burnt carmel color is. Before I could traverse the color wheel and go to a pale blue based color for the wall, it was very important to prime the wall with two coats of primer. If I didn’t, the wall could look green. Color wheel basics that we hopefully learned in school: when you mix blue and yellow, you get green. So starting with a pure palette of white was key to making this mural successful. After the wall was primed, I used one of my favorite colors: Brains Song by Dunn Edwards. It has just enough violet in it to give the pale blue more life, with out looking lavender. I then traced a tree branch with a basic number 2 pencil, in various arrangements on the wall. I took another color by Dunn Edwards, Cavern, and diluted it with water to make it easier to paint within the lines of the pencil. I used a small tipped brush from the art store that was more firm than a paint brush you’d find at a traditional house paint store such as Dunn Edwards or Home Depot. Once that was finished, I started on the clouds at the top of the room. Again I took traditional white house paint and diluted it with water. Then I used one of those cheap ‘chip’ brushes from home depot (I like how airy and light the density of the bristols are) and used that to apply the paint in a very thin and diffused manner. Blending was key to make the clouds look soft.

After I finished the mural, I set the table with some of my favorite China by Bernardaud. Fine French porcelain always has a place in my home, and makes the simplest of meals look great… yes, I’ve even served my friends Pizza on my Fine China. They laugh, but they love it. As far as I’m concerned, anytime a friend is over for dinner, it’s a special event.

Follow this link to learn more about Bernardaud‘s 150 year history and see more of their exquisite Fine China.

Art

Expressionism, From Van Gogh to Kandinsky at LACMA – Love it!

July 25, 2014 romicortier@yahoo.com 2 Comments

‘Beach at Low Tide’, 1900, Theo van Rysselberghe, LACMA, Photo Romi Cortier

‘Arabian Cemetery’, 1909, Wassily Kandinsky, LACMA, Photo Romi Corrtier

‘Young Girl’ , 1908, Max Pechstein & ‘Modjesko, Soprano Singer’, 1908, Kees van Dongen, LACMA, Romi Cortier

I recently returned to LACMA for my second viewing of the Expressionism Show, From Van Gogh to Kandinsky in Germany and France and I loved it even more the second time.

There are many scholarly reviews online about this exhibit, however, this isn’t one of them. That said, I simply can’t say enough good things about this show. It made me feel something, and I found myself standing in front of several paintings, drinking them in, luxuriating in their use of color and their bold brush strokes. I’ve traveled the world and seen many great shows, and many great paintings. Therefore, I yield to my eyes better judgement, and trust my instincts. Great art is great art, and when you see it you know. If a curator or scholar tells me it’s brilliant and I don’t get it, then so be it. The bottom line I ask myself is, would I want to live with it? And with this exhibit, I offer a resounding yes!! Please Please Please give me that Kandinsky in the black frame!! (Fourth image down) Some scholars are saying this show isn’t meant to be a blockbuster exhibit, but rather a bridge from Post Impressionism into Expressionism, spanning the periods from 1900 – 1914. All I know, is that this show resonates with me in a very profound way and is one of my favorite exhibits I’ve seen at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art during the last decade. My other other fave was the block buster 2006 Magritte exhibit: Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images, which included carpets of clouds on the floor, and wall paper on the ceiling of Los Angeles Freeways. Both of these shows have created total environments, which totally appeals to the interior designer in me.

One of the elements that I LOVED was the use of black walls with navy blue insets, that made the paintings jump off the wall. And I also loved how intimate works on paper were juxtaposed next to oil paintings from different periods. It’s the same way a sophisticated home owner would create groupings in their home if they had this caliber of work. While I know there’s an intellectual order to the way this show was hung, I simply have to say that this layout makes the entire exhibit warmer and easier to absorb. This show is also much more varied than the title suggests. I was surprised to learn that there are more than 40 artists in this exhibit, and works from different periods, such a Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism. In total there are 90 paintings, and 45 works on paper.

Don’t be intimidated if you don’t know a thing about art. You don’t need to, all you simply need to do is show up, and start educating your eye. I guarantee you’ll find something that excites you here, which in return, may teach you a little something about yourself.

LACMA: Expressionism: From Van Gogh to Kandinsky – Germany and France. Closes September 14, 2014

Where Art Inspires Beauty