by Stacy Mar
Van Gogh, Klimt, Monet, Renoir - some of the legendary names of the art world, famous for their brilliant canvases. Those who have seen any of these masterpieces in person know the impact and lasting impression they have. Imagine being able to bring that experience to your home’s wall dcor. You can - by selecting one of the many by Famous Artist tapestries from Decor4u.com, part of the extensive offering of beautiful tapestries to be found in their Tapestry Shop. Some of the world’s most famous paintings have been brought to breathtaking life in tapestry form and are ready to adorn your walls.
The paintings and trademark strong brushwork of Vincent Willem van Gogh are so well known and so widely recognized as to be iconic. In his canvas Irises, Saint-Remy, van Gogh shows us a picturesque planting of irises in a garden. A solitary white flower seems incandescent in contrast to the saturated blues of the other blooms. The Starry Night, perhaps van Gogh’s masterpiece, is another intense and dramatic image. The night sky above a village is ablaze with gyrating, roiling stars and an enormous full moon. It is remarkable that so vivid an image was painted completely by memory by van Gogh. The drama and majesty of these paintings have now come alive as tapestry wall hangings for the home.
Another familiar van Gogh canvas is Bedroom in Arles. It details the interior of his bedroom at his house in Arles, France, called the Yellow House. An otherwise simple, rustic room with bed, chairs and a table, the space is unique because of its trapezoidal shape. Van Gogh painted no less that three version of Bedroom in Arles. The Bedroom is one of Decor4u.com’s tapestries from Belgium and is based on the third version of this work. In all of these tapestries, van Gogh’s characteristic use of bold color and forceful painting style have been faithfully reproduced.
One of the most prominent and famous painters of the Art Nouveau movement was Austrian Gustav Klimt. He is perhaps most well known for his painting, The Kiss. A man and a woman enfold one another, their limbs entwined. They appear to become one with one another as well as with the field of flowers that surround them. Klimt had recently returned from Italy and was inspired by the famous mosaics he saw there to start using gold leaf in his own paintings. Hence his Golden Phase during which The Kiss was produced. This amazing tapestry, from Decor4u.com’s collection of tapestries from Europe, is woven with gold threads to more fully realize Klimt’s vision.
In the time that it was created, much of Klimt’s work was considered controversial. Consider Lady with Fan. We are shown a seemingly private moment in a woman’s day. Her hair is loose, her robe slips carelessly off one shoulder, she seems lost in thought. She is not shown in her room or any other interior. She is set against a background of Art Noveau motifs: birds, flowers, leaves, vines. The makers of this decorative tapestry have maintained the brilliance of the colors and forms of the original canvas.
Another equally famous name in art is Claude Monet. He was the founder and principle artist of the French Impressionist movement. The movement itself took its name from one of Monet’s own paintings, Impression, Soleil Levant (Impression, Sunrise). A proponent of the Impressionist doctrine that art should be inspired by nature, Monet painted extensively from his renowned gardens around his house at Giverny. His painting, Irises, is an example of this subject matter. Several slender blue irises are portrayed against an azure sky. Their leaves dance in the summer breeze. All of the beautifully detailed brush work, down to Monet’s signature, has been duplicated in this decorative tapestry
Pierre-August Renoir is another famed French Impressionist. He was an extraordinarily prolific artist who produced thousands of works in his lifetime, many of which have brought record sums in recent years. He greatest talent perhaps lies in his ability to create direct and intimate likenesses of people. A fine example of this is the canvas Dance at Bougival. A couple dancing exudes a lusty gaiety, enjoying the pleasures of the moment. At the same time, Renoir’s masterful use of light and shadow bring an almost ethereal quality to the work. Dance at Bougival Wall Art from Decor4u.com lets you enjoy this master work for your own.
Paul Ranson was a painter and a member of a group who called themselves Les Nabis, or the prophets. Les Nabis followed the belief that art was not merely symbolic or representational: it was a blending of both. This school of painting would bridge the gap between the Impressionists and the rise of abstract and non-representational art. A case in point is Ranson’s Apple Tree with Red Fruit. Although, as the title suggests, the subject is ostensibly a natural scene, a close look at the painting shows the limbs of the trees appear like human arms in a symbolic, rather than realistic gesture. The vivid and distinctive color palette is given an extra dimension when rendered as tapestry art.
Decor4u.com has wall tapestries by well know contemporary artists as well. Bunny Oliver’s style shows the influence of her studies with many of the United State’s famous present day impressionists. She has given much time and attention to the study of still life as she believes that great beauty can be found in simple, everyday objects. Her painting, Poppies Galore, is a striking example of her finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. A bunch of bold scarlet poppies cascade out of a blue and white vase of Chinese design. In tapestry form, Poppies Galore by Bunny Oliver achieves a new depth and clarity.
