Art Friday: Stephen Gjertson (part 1)

Grace
Artist: Stephen Gjertson
Born 1949, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Style: Classical Realism

I have never done this before, but this artist deserves two appearances as I love his work so much. This week are his beautiful paintings of mothers, women and children - so delicate, touching and realistic. Part 2 will be his still life paintings . . . flowers that are exquisite to look at.

Gjertson decided to make art his profession while drawing Pilgrims at Thanksgiving in the third grade. And that is just what he did.  He began painting flowers and fruit and has since gained a considerable reputation for his elegant still life's. He also paints landscapes and the ones I am sharing with you today - portraits. His wife (Patricia) and his four children have all modelled for him in paintings. He paints biblical themes.

His style of art is known as "Classical Realist". It is classical because it exhibits a preference for order, beauty, harmony and completeness, it is realist because its basic vocabulary comes from the representation of nature. It represents lifelike but not photographical - it is more stylized for the sake of beauty and harmony.

Artist link

Admiration
Bedtime story
The precious one
After the bath
Four O'Clock
The recorder lesson
The newborn
Mid morning
Visiting hours
Cradle song
The miracle
Heros of the west
From this day forth

Comments

  1. Jo, I really enjoyed seeing these wonderful paintings.
    That's just my style!
    I love the softness, the realism and the luminous glow on the faces.
    Very lovely, indeed!
    Thank you for introducing me to Stephen Gjertson.
    Blessings..Trish

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    1. So pleased you enjoyed this artist - he is pretty amazing. Some people are born with incredible gifts.

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  2. Wow, Jo! This one is going to have to go down as one of my all-time favourites! These are SO beautiful! They are soft, they evoke emotions, they are VERY well done and detailed... and realistic. They are fantastic! I aspire to such beautiful art.

    The children love them too - Dolly's favourites are "From this day on", "Admiration" and "The Precious One".
    Danny's favourite is "Heroes of the West" (no surprise there!). :)
    Personally, I can't pick a favourite - I love too many of them!!

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    1. My favourites, if I really had to chose would be "Grace" and "The Precious One" - the detail in the fabrics is amazing. I think is is incredible - so skills but introduced so much feeling and emotion into each painting. SO glad you like them, I knew you would.

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  3. These are very good. They almost look like photos! Thanks for sharing! :)

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    1. So happy you liked these - they are amazing. Very gifted man.

      Blessings

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  4. The people he painted look too life-like to just be actual drawings. This is truly amazing work!

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  5. This is beautiful. They almost look like photos. I'll take that back - they glow too much to be photos. It's what people Photoshop their photos to look like! Lovely!

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  6. These paintings are absolutely stunning! I like the realism of some of the artists today.

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  7. Jo-- those people look so real you could almost talk to them!! That is an amazing talent for portrait painting!!
    Thanks for another great art lesson !
    Xo
    Vicki

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