Artist Research Booklet - Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, Ana Mendieta and Vincent Van Gogh

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This is my cover for my Artist Research Booklet. In it I have chosen to focus on four well known portrait artists of the from 1800 - 2000. I initially did some research into these artists and their work to get some inspiration for the portraits I was going to do for the next part of my project, however I found it interesting, looking into the lives of some of the greatest creative minds in history. I realised that many of their backgrounds and lives were not pleasant, hence the tagline I had handwritten: 'pain is temporary - glory is forever,' which is quote said by many historical figures, but is commonly attributed to Lance Armstrong who wrote a similar quote in his book.

I think this is very relevant to the artists that I have researched as well as artists in general. Artists often make art based on their pain and traumatic experiences, which is often the work that receives mainstream success, which all of these artists did. They had painful lives and experiences, but their work lives on forever. There are countless examples of artists and creative people that died sadly and achieved mainstream success. This happens in contemporary art, music, film and theatre. In music it is known as the '27 club' - artists that died young including the likes of Kurt Cobain (1967-1994) and Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970). In the album, Folie à Deux, as well as 'I Don't Care' which I covered as part of this project, there is a song titled '27' that illustrates the notion of the 27 club.

Similarly these artists I have researched didn't live (very) long lives either - Andy Warhol at 58, Frida Kahlo at 47, Ana Mendieta at 36 and Vincent Van Gogh at 37. Their work became known all over the world following their death.