As I mentioned yesterday, Tyler Green of Modern Art Notes posted a list of his ten favorite painters as of that moment, and invited other artbloggers to do the same. (Here’s the followup posting.)
I usually jump at the chance to make lists of this kind, but for some inexplicable reason I found this one paralyzing. My ten favorite painters of all time? Ever? No sooner did I start typing names than I clutched–but I still wanted to play. So I decided instead to do something that is both easier and, in a way, potentially more revealing. Here’s a complete list of the artists represented in the Teachout Museum:
– Milton Avery (drypoint)
– William Bailey (aquatint with hard ground etching)
– Max Beerbohm (drawing with watercolor wash)
– Nell Blaine (one color lithograph, one painted tile)
– Pierre Bonnard (black-and-white lithograph)
– Stuart Davis (color serigraph)
– Helen Frankenthaler (color serigraph)
– Jane Freilicher (aquatint with hard ground etching)
– Arnold Friedman (black-and-white lithograph)
– Wolf Kahn (monotype)
– Alex Katz (color lithograph)
– John Marin (etching)
– Joan Mitchell (color lithograph)
– Fairfield Porter (four color lithographs)
– Paul Taylor (assemblage)
– John Twachtman (etching)
– Neil Welliver (woodcut)
– Jane Wilson (pastel)
In my mind, there’s also a space for the Morandi etching that got away. (Sigh.)
What do I long for most that isn’t there? A Vuillard color lithograph, a Hans Hofmann print (that one got away, too), a Kenneth Noland monoprint, and something good (but affordable) by Richard Diebenkorn. As of this moment, anyway.