“Well, something must be done for May, The time is drawing nigh-- To figure in the Catalogue, And woo the public eye. Something I must invent and paint; But oh my wit is not Like one of those kind substantives That answer Who and What?” WellsKindMayDoneEyeAnswersFiguresPaintingPaintDrawingWitPublic EyeCataloguesFigure Painting Book:the works of thomas hood Source: the works of thomas hood
“In figure painting, the type of all painting, I have endeavoured to set forth that the principal if not sole source of life enchantments are Tactile Values, Movement and Space Composition.” IfsValuesSpaceFiguresMovementPaintingSourceTypeSolePrincipalCompositionEnchantmentSource Of LifeTactileFigure Painting Author:Bernard Berenson
“If it is the love of that which your work represents--if, being a landscape painter, it is love of hills and trees that moves you--if, being a figure painter, it is love of human beauty, and human soul that moves you--if, being a flower or animal painter, it is love, and wonder, and delight in petal and in limb that move you, then the Spirit is upon you, and the earth is yours, and the fullness thereof.” IfsHumansSoulEarthMovingSpiritAnimalWonderTreeFiguresPaintingFlowerDelightPainterHillsLandscapeLimbsFullnessHuman SoulPetalsFigure Painting Book:Works Source: Works
“I don't make a lot of distinctions between things like landscape or figure painting, because to me the problems are inherently the same - lighting, color, structure, and so on - certainly traditional and ordinary problems.” ProblemFiguresColorPaintingOrdinaryStructureTraditionalLandscapeDistinctionLightingFigure Painting Author:Wayne Thiebaud
“From the mingled strength of shade and light A new creation rises to my sight, Such heav'nly figures from his pencil flow, So warm with light his blended colors glow. . . . . The glowing portraits, fresh from life, that bring Home to our hearts the truth from which they spring.” HeartHomeLightFiguresCreationColorPaintingSpringFlowSightWarmShadePortraitsPencilsGlowingFigure Painting Author:Lord Byron
“In 1958 I finally found a large enough apartment on the Lower East Side, where I reverted to figure painting. I drew and painted quite a lot of figures and nudes. People would come and pose for me.” PeopleEnoughFoundSidesFiguresPaintingEastApartmentEast SideFigure Painting Author:Claes Oldenburg
“They asked me to do a show, and I was planning on showing my figure paintings. But my friends told me I shouldn't - the paintings were good but a little old-fashioned. They said, "Why don't you show the other stuff?" I had also been making rather strange objects, more in the Freudian tradition.” LittlesSaidShowsStuffFiguresObjectsStrangePaintingMy FriendsTraditionPlanningThey SaidOld FashionedFigure Painting Author:Claes Oldenburg