Paul Klee

Paul Klee

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Paul Klee was born in Bern, Switzerland in the year of 1879. As a child he greatly enjoyed drawing, to the point where he would even draw on the tables when he went to restaurants. His family was very musical, as his father was a music teacher, and his mother was a singer. Paul was an excellent violinist as a young boy, but his true passion would lie in the arts. He had a very tough decision to make, as he loved both music and art, but he didn't know which to pick.

Throughout his studies he had a tough time picking between arts and music. He was very proficient in both art and music by the time he graduated, but ultimately he decided to abandon what his parents had taught him and pursued his art career. He went to the art university in Munich, Germany. During this time art was all over the place; with tons of different styles coming into place, it was the perfect time for new art designs to take place. While in Munich, he met and made friends with a lot of great artists, such as Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc.

While in Munich, Paul discovered something that many artists never discover themselves. Art doesn't have to look like a photograph every time to become a great painting. It can be whatever you want it to be. His art sold fairly well, so Paul was able to travel all around the world making great art. This is when he knew he made the correct decision in becoming an artist. He could travel the world without a thing on his mind aside from the fact that he had to paint.

Paul's art grew stranger and stranger as he got older. His paintings often depicted a wide range of fantasy, and some of his paintings even included weird musical references. Although his paintings were quite strange to most people, a lot of people enjoyed them, and Paul made a great living off his art. Today we know the way Paul painted as "abstract", although back then it was just another form of art.

Paul always had a great time painting, and kept himself in great condition whilst traveling all over the world painting. That's why it was so surprising that he died at the young age of 61. Paul Klee's art will be remembered all over the world as one of the first forms of abstract art in the world. He differentiated from the typical art of the times, and went with a completely new form of art unheard of before. It definitely worked for him, as he was able to live very well off his art. He didn't have to wait hundreds of years before his art grew popular, like many other artists.

Grant Wood

Grant Wood

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Grant Wood was born in 1891, in a very small town by the name of Anamosa, located in Iowa. He was born into a farming family at a young age, and it's very likely that that's where he got the inspiration for most of his future paintings. He had a rather country-like upbringing, growing up on a farm. Where other artists, like Picasso would commonly have grown up with a paintbrush in their hand, Wood grew up with a burnt stick in his hand. He would try to draw with burnt sticks that his mother gave him, as he didn't have the supplies needed to paint properly.

Although he had a strong ambition to become a painter, his parents, and everyone around him wanted him to grow up to be a farmer, just like his parents. He enjoyed spending time with animals from a young age, so his parents just figured he'd grow out of this artistic stage and move on to becoming a real farm boy.

Sadly enough, however, at the age of 10, his father died. His mother had no clue how to run a huge farm, so they ended up moving to the city. Although Grant would miss his farm pets and other things at the farm, this stage was essential in him becoming a marvelous painter. He had a hard time at first adapting to the new school and the new town, but eventually he got used to it and started to excel in this new area. He started working on a lot of artistic projects, and his art talents were really starting to show in high school. He would often times design scenery for school plays, or draw pictures for other uses.

After graduating in 1910, Grant played a huge role in a lot of different things. He made jewelry, taught art classes, decorated homes, and more. There was always art flowing through his veins. Soon he joined the army during World War 1, and amazingly enough he was given the job of painting camouflage on tanks.

After getting out of the war, he took a long trip to Europe to study other popular artists. He learned a lot and thought about what he wanted from his future as an artist. After spending a lot of time in Europe, he decided what he wanted to do. Grant took up painting other people in Iowa, and painting the typical Mid-Western countryside. He loved painting the scenery of his local locations, and would travel all around the state painting new and exciting things. In addition to loving it himself, the people of Iowa loved him as well. Grant was very popular and well known all over the state of Iowa for his great painting prowess and skill.

Soon he took his art talents elsewhere, and entered a few art shows in Chicago, a large nearby city. His paintings were absolutely loved by most people. They loved the simplistic nature he showed off in his paintings, and they were a lot easier to depict than the typical "modern" paintings of the time. His paintings were also widely popular, as America had been going through the Great Depression. People loved to look at his paintings of the beautiful countryside, and remember just what made America great at that time.

Grant Wood died in 1942, and will be forever remembered as a wonderful painter throughout America. His paintings brought immense joy and pleasure to not only the citizens of Iowa, but to the entire world. He brought people happiness through his paintings that people couldn't get elsewhere. Although Grant didn't develop a new form of art, or paint in a strange way, his art hit a soft spot with many people around the world, and that's what made him famous.

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

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Pablo Picasso was born in 1881, in Malaga, Spain. He was born into a very artistically talented family. His father was one of the more profound painters in Spain, and his mother was very supportive of the father. His father was also an art teacher, and specialized in teaching young students like Pablo would grow to become. His father always wanted Pablo to become a great artist, and his dream did eventually come true, as Pablo Picasso would grow to be one of the most well-known and profound artists in the entire world.

As a child, Picasso actually strived in most of his classes, unlike many other artists at this time. He was brought up under a very successful and nice family, so he didn't struggle in school like many other artists. Although he was very good at other subjects like math and English, he excelled at art. Many students at the time often thought that by having an art teacher as a father, Picasso's schoolwork was easier for him, and although that may have been the case, Picasso showed off that he really did have a great artistic talent later in his life.

At the age of 19, after graduating from school, Picasso moved out of Spain, and relocated himself to the great city of Paris, France. While in Paris, he painted quite frequently. He usually stuck to realism at this time, although his art styles would jump all over the place as he progressed deeper into his life. Soon Picasso's art style would undergo one of the major changes in his lifetime.

The Blue Period

As was just mentioned, Picasso's art style would undergo a huge change. His best friend died and Picasso was crushed by this news. Although his painting style would change vastly, so would his lifestyle. He was having troubles in his life already at this point, as not  many of his paintings were selling well at the market. He was almost starving to death due to his lack of money, and on top of that, his best friend had just died. This lead to him entering what we now know as, "The Blue Period". During this period Picasso painted with a lot of very depressing and sad colors, such as blue and black. All of his paintings resembled his feelings at this time, so the people in the paintings were often times depicted as being sad and depressed. Although some people usually thought that Picasso's new painting style was nice, a lot of people found it to be too odd, including his father. This lead to a mass controversy throughout his entire Blue Period, as he was hit by a lot of criticism, as well as good feedback towards this painting style.

The Rose Period

Soon things picked up however, and much like the geologic time scale, Picasso moved into a completely new period. Soon Picasso fell in love with a girl by the name of Fernande. Soon happier and more joyful colors were being portrayed in Picasso's art. This was the start of The Rose Period. During this time, as was mentioned above, Picasso started painting much happier things. He would often times paint pictures of things like the circus, or various animals that he enjoyed looking at. Amazingly enough, this period didn't last long, and soon Picasso was moving on to a completely new artistic style that would strike an even larger interest in people's attention.

Cubism

Cubism was the next thing on Picasso's mind. This is often times what people remember him for, as it really did change art as we know it today. At first when Picasso started cubism, people didn't like it. Artists had been spending hundreds of years trying to perfect their art, to make people  look as real as they could. This was commonly referred to as realism. Strangely enough though, Picasso came along with this crazy thing he called cubism, and people actually liked it. It didn't really resemble anything ordinary, but people still loved it. They could make a cubist painting into anything they wanted it to be. People saw different things in every cubist painting that Picasso painted. 

Picasso is still remembered today for his insane variety of strange painting styles and methods. He died at the age of 92, which is quite a long time to live, especially for an artist, as they usually die fairly young. Picasso is known worldwide for his invention of cubism, and his famous Blue Period. Picasso wasn't only a painter, however. He was also a famous sculptor and loved to color antiques and dishes as well. He even invested time into making custom scenery and costumes for famous plays. Picasso is probably the most well-known artist in the world by now, or at least in the top 5. Everyone's heard of his name, and that's because he was different. He started something new, and stuck with it, and that's what made him special, even to this very day.

Henri Rousseau

Henri Rousseau

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Henri Rousseau was born in 1844, in Laval, France. As a child he always had a great passion for art, but his parents simply couldn't afford to buy him top-notch lessons. Although he had this amazing passion for art, he simply couldn't fulfill it in the best way possible without any kind of guidance or support. As a child he had a rather amazing imagination, but sometimes the imagination and passion for art took over, and it really showed in his studies. As a young child, he did relatively terrible in his classes. Aside from art and music, he usually performed well under average for his age.

Although he did quite terribly at his other classes, he really did excel at art. He was very passionate about it, and often times he painted every day. He still wasn't getting any support from his parents. Although he believed he could become an amazing artist if he put his mind to it, he wasn't getting the support he wanted. Little did he know he would grow up to be an amazing artist anyways, without any kind of support through teachings or classes.

Throughout his life, Henri displayed a strange variance of imagination. He would often tell his friends he had just spent the weekend in a jungle or something strange, although it was completely in his imagination. Later he would find that this helped him find inspiration for his art. He finally made it through school, and was on his own. He was jailed soon after, as he usually hung out with a bad group of people, and made bad decisions.

Soon after he was let out of jail, Henri was on the hunt to start a new life. He was employed in a rather boring job, so he had extra time to paint on the side whilst working. This was quite enjoyable for him, and he could build up a portfolio while working. He always knew he wanted to be an artist, he just needed a quick break to get back on his feet and to pursue his art career. Soon, that break would come.

Henri soon decided to enroll in an art show to display his paintings. This art show was referred to as "The Saloon", and it was a very high-quality art show in Paris. Sadly though, the judges at The Salon wouldn't even look at his paintings, as he wasn't an established and recognized painter throughout the art community. He didn't give up though, soon Henri took his paintings to another art show. It was called the "Salon des Independents". Luckily enough, at this show, a lot of famous artists appreciated Henri's work, and his work received a lot of attention throughout the entire art show. He soon built up a lot of friends who knew what they were talking about when it came to art. He had finally established himself as a professional artist, and was ready to take off on a career of art.

Henri continued to take advice from these new-found friends, and kept painting whilst working his job. The World's Fair was coming to Paris, where he resided, in 1889. Although this didn't particularly aid his decision to become a full-time painter, it definitely sparked some more imaginative juices in Henri's brain, and he had a ton of new things he wanted to paint after seeing the fair. Soon after he would paint a lot of new paintings that would eventually make him very famous.

In 1893, at 49 years old, Henri finally quit his job and pursued painting full time. His paintings were slowly and surely becoming more popular, and his painting was finally able to give him a sustainable income. Although many people enjoyed Henri's paintings, a lot of people hated them as well. He had a lot more critics than your usual artists, but he didn't let the critics take away any credibility he had for himself. He was sure he was born to be an artist, and that was exactly what he wanted to do.

Throughout the rest of his life, Henri painted quite a lot. Although he never became all that famous while he was alive, he was able to feed himself and provide enough for himself and his family to get by on. He died at the age of 66, in 1910. He chased a rather amazing dream his entire life, and ended up being able to do it. That's the amazing thing that really stands out when you take a look at Henri Rousseau.

Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper

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Edward Hopper was born in New York on July 22nd, 1882. His family was fairly ordinary, middle-class and two children. At the age of five, as a young boy, he began painting and drawing. This was the beginning of a long career of painting. But it wouldn't always be easy. Edward had many struggles throughout his life in becoming what he is now remembered as.

During his childhood years he excelled at school and art. He grew up in a very strict Baptist household and went to a private school. His first signed painting, Rocky Cove, was done as a teenager when he was just 13 years old. As a younger person he often humorously drew women dominating men in common men-dominated events. This may be what lead to a majority of his paintings containing women in his life.

As he grew older, he decided that he wanted to be a Naval Architect. However, after graduating he changed his mind, and decided to go to college for art. He enrolled at the New York institute for Art and Design. He would spend six years learning about art there. One main problem he always had was trying to sell his art. He had trouble selling art at all during these years.

Finally, at the age of 31 he sold his first painting. He thought it may lead to more sales, but as it turned out it didn't. His career didn't pick up again until he was 41 (1923). At this point his career started to excel. In a time of depression and trouble, Hopper was able to sell paintings like hot cakes. He fared very well over the depression.

During the rest of his life he continued to paint using various methods. He is remembered for his vast realism and being an excellent print maker. He was also amazing with oil paintings and watercolors. Most of his paintings depicted typical American scenes, or humorous paintings involving women. His biggest influence, as he said himself, was Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Edward Hopper died on May 15th, 1967, at the age of 84. As he had wished, all his unsold paintings were donated to various museums to remember his great work. Many museums feature his work. In total he donated over 3,000 paintings after he was already dead. One of his most famous paintings sold for $10,000,000 to Steve Martin, a famous actor, in 1999.

Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Prokofiev

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Sergei Prokofiev was a famous Russian composer, pianist, and conductor born on April 23rd, 1891 in Ukraine. His father was an agricultural engineer and his mother stayed at home playing piano. She would often play music by Chopin and Beethoven. This is where Prokofiev got his first musical inspiration. At the age of five he wrote his first song, an Indian Gallop. By the age of nine he was composing his first opera, "The Giant". He was also an avid chess player as a young boy, which along with piano would remain one of his passions for the next 50 years.

Whilst growing up Prokofiev wrote a good amount of lesser known music. Even at a young age (18) he was known for writing amazingly technical and difficult music. In 1914 he entered a contest called "The battle of the pianos" which was open to the top five piano students at this time. He won by performing his own concerto, his Piano Concerto no. 1.

Soon he moved to the USA after being scared he would be drafted into the military for World war 1. He immediately begun work there, starting with a concert in New York. He succeeded many times while composing tons of music in America. He moved back to the Soviet Union in 1936, but it was a rather rough time there. He was also very ill.

Sergei Prokofiev died on March 5th, 1953 at the age of 61. It is reported that he suffered internal hemorrhage, however it is not confirmed. He died on the same day as Joseph Stalin, so was unable to be buried in a nice location as there was a three day grievance period. He was barely mentioned in a tributary, as the first 115 pages of that day were dedicated to Stalin. He wrote an amazing amount of challenging music, however I will link his most famous piece, Dance of the Knights. It was not very complicated.

Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy

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Claude Debussy was born in France on August 22nd, 1862. He was the eldest of five siblings. His mother was a seamstress, and his father owned a shop that sold china and crockery. As a child he loved being argumentative. He, like Galileo questioned just about everything he could. This lead to him being very curious and experimental.

He was then accepted into a college for arts after winning the Prix de Rome. He was exposed to Wagner's music in college, and decided he wanted to play a similar way to that. His music would often express how he was feeling in his own life. He would write songs about everyday tasks, such as waking up his daughter, eating lunch, or the like. This was one of the first expressions of symbolism in music.

He wrote many great pieces, like Arabesque and Clair De Lune. Sadly, in 1909 he was diagnosed with rectal cancer. In 1916, he had one of the world's first colostomies. He died two years later of terrible haemorrhaging. His music will be remembered by many people. His (arguably) most famous song, Clair De Lune, was featured in a Twilight Saga movie, skyrocketing him back to some last fame.