Artist, interior decorator and busy mom Stacy Dalton drops by once a week to share home decorating tips, art facts and more.
The Ahead of His Time Paul Ranson
It's a rainy grey day here at the office, so I thought I'd find a bright, cheery art image to look at and lighten up my day. As I clicked through the ArtSelect site, this image struck me right away: Apple Tree with Red Fruit by Paul Ranson.
This piece appeals to me for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I love the bright, bold contrasting colors. I'm a big fan of primaries and brights, so come rain or shine, I'd be drawn to the cherry red fruit and canary yellow skies. I also find the swirling Post-Impressionist shapes and strokes of this artwork extremely intriguing.
The artist, Paul Ranson, was a major frontrunner in the early 1900s avant-garde Post-Impressionist art group Les Nabis. Like his cohorts, Ranson favored a stylized, design-inspired technique, and his work was peppered with symbolism and Art Deco influences. A lot of art critics feel that Les Nabis (or "the Prophets") strongly influenced the work of future Abstract artists and the field of non-representational art in general.
I couldn't agree more. In fact, when I first came upon this piece, I thought it was a contemporary piece! Kudos to the ahead-of-his-time Ranson! Until next week...
Save This Page