Studio of the South Blog

One of the best ways to get in touch with artists and their work is to see where they lived.  Today the homes of many famous artists have been made into museums which give tours so that visitors can see the environment where artists created some of their most famous works. 

One of the most famous artist homes and studios is the home of Claude Monet in Giverny, France.  Here visitors can wander through his famous gardens, over the Japanese footbridge and gaze at floating water lilies as if to set foot in one of his paintings.  His most famous scenes captured on canvas exist to this day in addition to his house and studio which visitors can tour. 

If you are in Antwerp, Belgium, be sure to stop by Rubenshuis – the house of Peter Paul Rubens.  Rubens bought the home in 1610 and designed an addition for it himself.  With its sculpture gallery and artist’s studio with the impressive style of the Italian Renaissance, the house itself is a palatial work of art to behold. Open to the public for tours and also containing a collection of paintings by Rubens and other artists, Rubenshuis is worth a visit.

Not too far from Antwerp is the Rembrandt House located in Amsterdam.  The Rembrandt house is where Rembrandt van Rijn resided between 1639 and 1658.  The large Dutch home was where Rembrandt lived and worked until he went bankrupt in 1656.  The Rembrandt House Museum is open for tours; in addition, there are even virtual tours of the Rembrandt House online.

Also located in the Netherlands is The Vincent van GoghHuis in the town of Zundert.  Although the house where Van Gogh was born was torn down, in its place is a building which has a permanent Van Gogh exhibition.  If you are in France, the beautiful town of Auvers-sur-Oise is the where the final home of Van Gogh is located.  Le Maison de Van Gogh, formerly the Ravoux Inn, is open for visitors to tour Van Gogh’s upstairs room.  Downstairs visitors can enjoy a meal at the café before touring the rest of the Van Gogh sites in Auvers.

Travel southwest to Spain and you can visit two of the homes of Salvador Dali.  The Salvador Dali House-Museum in Portlligat, Spain is where Dali lived for much of his life.  Today visitors can tour the house and his studios here.  There is also a virtual tour online.  From Portlligat, Dali moved to his last home which was literally his castle.  The Gala Dali Castile in Púbol, Spain was Dali’s home, workshop and eventually became the mausoleum for his wife.  Today the castle is open for tours, or you can see sections of it online.

Although he spent much of his life in France, between the years 1872 and 1873 Edgar Degas lived in the United States in New Orleans.  Today the Degas House in New Orleans  is open for tours and visitors can see where Edgar Degas lived and created over twenty works of art.

If you love the work of the Impressionists, then you will surely love Impressionist Normandy. This four month festival begins in June and runs through September in the Normandy region of France and is held to celebrate the Impressionist movement which began with Claude Monet’s Impression Sunrise in 1872. Cultural events including art, theatre, dance, photography, video, and more will comprise this diverse cultural experience taking place all summer long in different cities in the Normandy region. If you are in the area this summer, some of the highlights include an exhibition in Rouen will cover titled “A City for Impressionism” will cover some of the Studio of the South featured artists Monet, Pissarro, and Gauguin, the “Impressionism on the Seine” exhibition at Giverny featuring works by Monet, Renoir, Bonnard, Matisse and Caillebotte and just outside of Rouen will be an exhibition “In a Garden- Homage to” which will include photos and video interpretations of Manet’s Dejeuner sur l’Herbe. To view all of the events and learn more visit Impressionist Normandy.

This year there are a variety of exciting art exhibitions all over the world.  No matter where you are, chances are that the works of one of the great masters will be on display near you.  Here are a few that have opened or are opening in the early part of this year at art museums all over the world.

By the Water-lily Pond – Monet, Yoshihiro Suda and Zon Ito, ongoing until Februrary 28 at the Asahi Beer Oyamazaki Villa Museum of Art near Kyoto, Japan.

Michelangelo: Anatomy as Architecture, Drawings by the Master, ongoing until April 11 at the Muscarelle Museum of Art at The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.

Degas to Picasso – French masterpieces from the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, ongoing until April 25 at the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary. 

Van Gogh, Cézanne, Monet – The Bührle Collection visits the Kunsthaus Zürich, ongoing until May 16 at the The Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland.

Masterpieces of European Painting, opening February 19 until May 16 at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, Tennessee.

Cézanne and American Modernism, ongoing until May 23 at the Baltimore Museum of Art in Baltimore, Maryland. 

Monet and Abstraction, opening February 23 until May 30 at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, Spain.

The Studio of the South is proud to announce the new Raphael Gallery as our latest addition to our suite of sites dedicated to the life and work of famous artists.  The newly expanded Raphael Gallery contains a wealth of information on Raphael’s biography as well as Raphael’s paintings including some of his most famous such as The School of Athens, The Transfiguration and Raphael’s Madonnas.  In addition, visit the Raphael gallery and learn about the artists who influenced Raphael Sanzio like Fra Bartolomeo, Pietro Perugino and other Studio of the South artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo.  Visit the Raphael Gallery today and continue to check back as we expand the site with more detail on the impressive life and work of one of the great Renaissance Masters.

Welcome to the Studio of the South blog!  After working for several years on the Van Gogh Gallery blog, we have decided to expand our blog network and create a Studio of the South blog as a platform for discussions on art news and famous artists including, but not limited to, Vincent van Gogh. 

Just as Vincent van Gogh’s plan was to create a collaborative artist community called the Studio of the South, so too is our plan for the Studio of the South site and blog.  As the hub for recent news and site updates and a forum for discussions on famous artworks, artists and art authentication, this blog will keep you informed and connected as we journey through the world of art.