Healing through Art
Art is a wound turned into light
-George Braques, French painter and sculptor
Explore the healing power of art in the submissions below. If you would like to share an original or favorite work of art, please submit to Healing Hamlet.
Roots
Frida Kahlo Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was a Mexican painter who suffered from illness and physical trauma most of her life. In spite of contracting polio at the age of six that permanently left her right leg damaged, Kahlo participated in soccer, swimming and boxing. In her teen years, a serious bus accident would lead to years of …
Bird’s Kiss
Bahram Alivandi Bahram Alivandi (1928 – 2012) received his artistic training in Tehran and is considered a pioneer of Iranian contemporary art. He taught at the Workshop of National Art and the Kamal-ol-Molk Academy of Art for twenty years before his oppositional views toward the government led to his imprisonment. In 1983 he moved to Vienna, …
Where is My Mother
Yun Gee Yun Gee (1906-1963) was a Chinese-American artist, poet, writer and performer. At 15, he left China to join his father in San Francisco and never saw his mother again. Yun Gee studied at the California School of Fine Art and became a U. S. Citizen. At 21 he left for Paris where his work was …
Fantasía
Johannes Sveinsson Kjarval Johannes Sveinsson Kjarval (1885 – 1972) was an Icelandic painter who lived for the sake of art and sometimes exchanged paintings for food and shelter. Known for his landscapes, he stated, “All nature is a single symphony, all of it music.” More art by Johannes Sveinsson Kjarval
The Thinker
Chaïbia Tallal Chaïbia Tallal (1929 – 2004) was born to a peasant family in Chtuka, Morroco. At the age of 13 she was married to an older man who died two years later, leaving her a widowed mother at the age of 15. With no education, Chaïbia spun wool and worked as a housekeeper to …
Reclining Figure
Henry Moore The secret of life is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for the rest of your life. And the most important thing is, it must be something you cannot possibly do. –Henry Moore Learn more about sculptor Henry Moore
Gorge Improvisation
Wassily Kandinsky That is beautiful which is produced by the inner need, which springs from the soul. –Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Kandinsky (1866 – 1944) was born in Moscow and is credited for pioneering pure abstract painting. During the cultural revolution in Russia, his artistic views were rebuffed by his peers. Kandinsky left for Germany and taught at the Bauhaus …
The Sun
Edvard Munch Plagued throughout his childhood with illness and loss, Edvard Munch (1863 – 1944) is known for paintings which attempt to illustrate the human psyche. His works often express bleakness, melancholy, anxiety and torment (The Scream). After recovering from a mental breakdown in 1909, his works, including The Sun, became more colorful and optimistic. …
Memorial Day
Remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice Afghanistan-Iraq War Memorial Veterans Cemetery, Boulder City, NV
Character Head
Franz Xaver Messerschmidt Franz Xaver Messerschmidt (1736 – 1783) was a successful sculptor whose work was sought by the royal Viennese court. In 1774 he lost his position at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna due to “confusion in the head”. Modern scholars suggest Messerschmidt suffered from mental illness and Crohn’s diseases. He dedicated his …