Research : Two artists who exemplify detailed drawing

Research : Two artists who exemplify detailed drawing P. 51

Ernst Fuchs 1930 - Present

Job And The Judgement 1966

Ernst Fuchs (Born 1930) is an Austrian painter, but also known for being a draftsman, print-maker, sculptor, and architect. In 1945, he studied at the Vienna Academy of Art with Professor Albert Paris von Gütersloh. During his time there, he studied the works of Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele as well as being influenced by Edvard Munch, Henry Moore and Pablo Picasso among others. 

In 1948, along with Arik Brauer, Wolfgang Hutter, Rudolph Hausner and Anton Lehmden, they founded the "Vienna School of Fantastic Realism", Learning from Gütersloh's emphasis on the techniques of the Old Masters, the school practiced Realism, Clarity and Detail combined with religious symbolism reminiscent of early Flemish painting.

Having lived in France for 12 years, Fuchs moved to Israel where he stayed in the Dormition Monastery on Mount Zion and painted icons. He was commissioned to paint the "Three Mysteries of the Sacred Rosary" in Vienna which was met with some disapproval due to his interpretation.

The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary (part of a triptych depicting the three cycles of the Mysteries of the Rosary); 1958 - 1960

Having opened up a gallery in 1962, again in Vienna, the place became a hotspot for supporters of "Fantastic Realism" to meet up. In the following years, Fuchs produced a book, the "Architectura Caelestis" fulfilling his interest in architecture and sculpture. Fuchs style often contained sexual content, as well routes in symbolism. He revived the technique of mischtechnik (mixing tempera with oil paints and resins to create a rich, luminous effect ) In the later years, Fuchs went on to renovate the Otto Wagner Villa in Hütteldorf, and have greater involvement in sculpture and set design.

 In 2010, Ernst Fuchs celebrated his 80th Birthday, and continues to tour with exhibitions, he has influenced people like H.R.Giger (creator of the Alien design in the film Alien). When speaking of his Fantastic Realism style, Fuchs highlights:

 "Things that you could not see in the normal world always pursued me. I always occupied myself with a kind of painting that renders pictures other people see in dreams or hallucinations. I could pass the barrier of this world of inner pictures even in awakeness and normal condition. The change from the world of dreams or phantasy into the world of in reality visible pictures for me was constantly possible. My themes where from the beginning on religious or mythological so that the contents of my pictures of surrealistic or phantastic character can be found in nearly all stages of my work."

Leonardo da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519)

Leonardo Da Vinci is often viewed as "one of the great creative minds of the Italian Renaissance" not only as an artist but also as an engineer, sculptor, scientist and inventor. From a young age, it was said that Da Vinci would drive his teacher crazy, bombarding them with questions, such was his curiosity and thirst for knowledge. 

He became an apprentice to Andrea del Verrocchio, a gifted sculptor, painter, goldsmith himself, and it was Verrocchio who insisted that all pupils under his charge would learn about anatomy. Da Vinci became a master of topographic anatomy, drawing extensive details of the muscles, tendons and other visible anatomical features. He went on to become an independent master by 1478.

Around 1482, Leonardo worked for Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan and his family, maintaining his own workshop, having the role of engineer, sculptor, painter and architect. In 1495, he produced a mural of 'The Last Supper' in the refectory of the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, taking two years to complete. Da Vinci returned to Florence when the French invaded Milan in 1499 at which time during his stay he painted the 'Mona Lisa' (1503-1506).

Da Vinci's mind for science and engineering was just as impressive as his painting skill , and he produced unpublished notebooks comprising over 13,000 pages on subjects such as geology, anatomy (which he studied in order to paint the human form more accurately), flight, gravity and optics, He had a fascination with flight, and the forces of motion, with many sketches depicting bicycle, airplane, helicopter, and parachute designs some 500 years before being invented.  Why Di Vinci never published this work? It was felt that he would not be deemed credible due to lacking a formal education in Latin and mathematics. In truth, the scientific methods he employed, underpinned his artist style, his "painting was scientific, based on a deep understanding of the workings of the human body and the physics of light and shade" and his curiosity of how the world works served to observe and explore a subject in a new and distinctive way.

Interesting Facts about Da Vinci: 

• Famous pieces include: the Vitruvian Man, The Last Supper" (1497), Lady with an Ermine (1489–1490)
• Da Vinci thought the Sun and Moon revolved around the Earth, and that the Moon was covered with water. 
•  He was impeached in 1476, charged with homosexual conduct (dropped through lack of evidence)
• He used the technique of Sfumato or "evaporate like smoke" was to create fine transitions between colours and tones
• He wrote most of his personal notes in mirror writing, Right to Left. 
• He only painted four female portraits, Cecilia Gallerani, the Mona Lisa, Ginevra de' Benci and La belle ferronnière.
• For someone who epitomized detail and accuracy, Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa background inaccurately, the portion of landscape over her right shoulder is off-set/raised compared to the left side. 

http://www.ernstfuchs-zentrum.com/html/bio2.html
http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/ernst-fuchs/job-and-the-judgement-of-paris-1966
http://signorcasaubon.tumblr.com/post/12461476146/ernst-fuchs-the-sorrowful-mysteries-of-the-holy

http://www.artinthepicture.com/artists/Leonardo_da_Vinci/Biography/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mona_Lisa,_by_Leonardo_da_Vinci,_from_C2RMF_retouched.jpg
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/da_vinci_leonardo.shtml