Re: BURIAN AT WORK - ANY CZECH SPEAKERS OUT THERE?

[David Krentz <ddkrentz@charter.net>]

  For myself, Burian's prehistoric men paintings are without a doubt  
his best work.  They have been highly influencial to many artists and  
movie-makers.  Frank Frazetta admits that Burian was a big influence  
on several of his paintings.  Heck, as a kid in the 70's the first  
Frazetta paintings I saw were painted on the side of a van.  Well,  
of  course the were.  Amoungst all the prehistoric scenes there was  
the "Neanderthal" painting .  I remember thinking that the owner of  
that van must like Burian a lot.
  Burian also created several scenes of prehistoric men that showed  
a lot of pathos.  One is of a Neanderthal looking at a rainbow that  
makes one ponder "yeah, what would he be thinking".
My favourite is an image of the man who sculpted the Venus of  
Wellendorf.  He sits back, admiring his work while behind him proudly  
stands the portly woman he used as a model!  Genius.

  David Krentz
On Aug 27, 2006, at 4:39 AM, Luis Rey wrote:

> I still like the Charles R. Knight paintings but I think the real  
> revolution in prehistoric imagery started with Burian. Compared to  
> Knight, Burian's paintings are much more alive and believable. I  
> don't think there's anybody (up until now) that has painted  
> prehistoric mammal scenes better than him... Knight is too static  
> (sometimes too 'pretty-posed' also)  and Burian is all dynamism.
> I do have my reservations regarding the majority of Burian's  
> dinosaurs though. I think there's a definitive contrast between   
> the liveness and realism of the other animals he depicts (specially  
> all mammals including prehistoric men) and the (sometimes)  
> caricaturesque quality of his dinosaurs... they are definitively  
> >less< believable as real, living animals.  Burian shows that there  
> was still a real problem in interpreting the dinosaurs and their  
> anatomy in those times.
> But of course, the landscaping is still fabulous.
>
> On 26 Aug 2006, at 19:56, Danvarner@aol.com wrote:
>
> > I believe the photos are  frames from a film, which would be a  
> > wonderful
> > thing to see, especially scenes  of him actually painting. Knight  
> > is my favorite,
> > of course, but Burian worked  with a magic brush. He was fast and  
> > full of
> > tricks. Just look at his trees and  foliage. He's the one I'd like  
> > most to watch
> > over his shoulder. DV
>
> Luis Rey
>
> Visit my website
> http://www.ndirect.co.uk/~luisrey