I love fine art. I grew up frequenting the Art Institute of Chicago with my beloved Mom. What a gift! Whenever I have free time in NYC my kiddos know I can be found at the Met in the Impressionist wing. If I ever went missing in the city that’s the first place they’d check ;).
I believe that great art involves fine brush strokes.
Some of the most ground-breaking innovators in art are best known for their nuances. Nuances can be bold or subtle. Here are a few examples of how nuancing broke new ground in art and the pioneers who led the way:
- Caravaggio innovated the dramatic use of dark and light known as chiaroscuro
- Monet and Degas broke ground from traditionalists using broken, fine brush strokes and the use of light and bright colors that is the beauty of impressionism
- Post-impressionist innovator Seurat created astounding works with his pointilism technique
- Picasso and Miro pushed the limits of modern art with their style known as cubism
Here’s the cool thing if you study any of these masters of nuance and their breakthroughs: they each lived their hero’s journey toward their OPUS and its resulting influence and impact that lives on today.
Two of the most emotionally moving experiences I’ve had was in this space of learning.
The first was experiencing the Monet exhibit of his artist’s journey at the Art Institute of Chicago. The visual journey of his full body of work revealed the risks he took, the rejection and ridicule he faced and his commitment to his craft even at the end of his life when his eyesight failed. He was still painting exquisite wall-sized water lilies at an advanced age with minimal sight. Powerful.
The second was in Barcelona at the Picasso Museum’s curation of his life’s journey toward who we know today as a ground-breaking innovator of form. While I’m not a fan of Picasso’s art I gained full respect for him as an artist and an innovator seeing his journey from a talented, classically trained artist in step with what was accepted style to a ground-breaking innovator who dared critics and kept pushing the limits of what could be considered art.
What I clearly saw in each artist’s story was the pursuit of their OPUS, their great work of love, fueled by vision and passion.
So how are you nuancing these days? How does it tie to your great work of love? What vision fuels you? Keep breaking new ground as the original you were created to be. Good.
BUILT TO LEAD 