A five-minute
@igniteboulder
presentation on how I ended up sharing over a million pieces of art on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. Thanks for following the
#artbots
and supporting me on this crazy ride!
LOL, Paul Gaugin wasn't a fan of Vincent's yellow "Shit, shit, everything is yellow: I don't know what painting is any longer!"
Vincent van Gogh, Wheatfield with a Reaper, 1889
Vincent Van Gogh tried to convince his brother Theo to become a painter, he wrote “If you hear a voice within you saying ‘You are not a painter’, then by all means paint, boy, and that voice will be silenced”. It did not work on Theo but I hope it works on you 😉
“The money painting costs crushes with a feeling of debt and worthlessness and it would be a good thing if it were possible that this should stop..” — Vincent van Gogh
The Olive Trees, 1889
"I am far from having reached any kind of tranquility ... I feel a failure ... a lot that I accept and that will not change... The prospect grows darker, I see no happy future at all."
— Vincent Van Gogh, Painter on his way to work, August 1888
“The more my health comes to normal, the more foolish it seems to me, and a thing against all reason, to be doing this painting which costs so much and brings In nothing” — Vicent Van Gogh
Mountains at Saint-Rémy, 1889
Here are the most liked artworks on Twitter for the past 30 days:
@artistsargent
, Muddy Alligators, 1917
@vangoghartist
, Starry Night Over the Rhone, 1888
@artistgauguin
, Van Gogh Painting Sunflowers, 1888
@artistsargent
, Claude Monet Painting by the Edge of a Wood, 1885
I am painfully aware of the fact that I sound like a broken record, but ALL of the classical art accounts are offline, again...
Twitter took down our art robots without as much as an email. Here we go again 🫠😂😭😬😆
I am fascinated by the work routines of different artists and here's how van Gogh's contemporary described his painting process: "He stood some distance from the easel with his hands folded over his chest - he often did that - and stared at the painting for a long time. -->
Artists! During these anxiety-filled times I would like to offer you a safe space for SHAMELESS self-promotion ;) Reply to this tweet with a few photos of your work and a link to your website. Let’s see some art!
The French painter and sculptor Jean-Léon Gérôme (
@ArtistGerome
) is now on Twitter. I discovered Gérôme's work through the "Truth Coming Out of Her Well" painting (right) but then fell in love with his portraits and landscapes. Give him a follow.
#followart
This morning I read about van Gogh's The Potato Eaters and wondered the painting was ever stolen. It turns out it was! On April 14, 1991, the Vincent van Gogh National Museum was robbed of twenty major paintings including the final version of The Potato Eaters -->
It looks like Vincent van Gogh
@vangoghartist
will be the first
#artbot
to reach 100K followers. This little bot has been sharing Vicent's art since October 2015 and I could not be more excited for this milestone.
One of the best European art collections is now on Twitter! The Art Institute's European Painting and Sculpture department (
@aic_europeanart
) includes more than 4K works dating from the 12th through the late 19th century. It is so good!
The American landscape painter Frederic Edwin Church (
@artistfechurch
) is finally on Twitter! If you are into expansive landscapes and breathtaking scenery then you should definitely follow him.
#followart
#artontwitter
The big question is how this account should be labeled? Is this a parody, a fan account, not real a account, a real account account of someone who died before twitter was invented? Some clarity on this would be helpful,
@elonmusk
"It must be good to die in the knowledge that one has done some truthful work and to know that, as a result, one will live on in the memory of at least a few"
— Vincent Van Gogh, Self-Portrait, August 1889
Going through a divorce is devastating but for the first time in months I feel ok. Whatever you are dealing with right now just hang in there, it does get better. I hope that people you love are healthy and close enough for a hug ❤️
Artbots Update: Twitter is asking $42,000 per month for the elevated API access which is required to continue sharing art at the scale of 500+ accounts.
This is too much considering that we have never made any money from the Artbots. Here are our options 🧵
I turned 40 today. I am exactly where I want to be and it is strange. Happy Birthday self, remember to seek out beauty, don’t be an asshole, and avoid death 🎨💀💥
I just resigned from my day job - in a few weeks I will be working on the
#artbots
full time. It feels a little scary to take this leap of faith but I am very excited for things to come. LET'S BUILD
This month I am going to be adding more(!!) Romanticist painters to Twitter. The first one is Thomas Cole (
@ThomasColeBot
), an English-born American painter known for his landscape and history paintings.
#followart
#artontwitter
Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin were terrible roommates! They fought about household chores, restaurant choices, money etc. Vicent's messiness drove Gauguin crazy, "His box of colors barely sufficed to contain all those squeezed tubes, which were never closed up" 🧵
“I work even in the middle of the day, in the full sunshine, without any shadow at all, in the wheat fields, and I enjoy it like a cicada”
Vincent Van Gogh, Wheat Field with Cypresses, 1889
The genius of Hilma af Klint is that she was among the first to recognize the beauty of non-objective art. A composition of shapes, lines, and colors is beautiful in and of itself. Klint's work would not be out of place on the
@artblocks_io
today. So badass
Vincent Van Gogh was a difficult person and didn’t shy away from conflict. By his own account, he could walk into another artist’s studio and “immediately, sometimes is less than five minutes” burst into a dispute so intense that “neither party can go forward or back”
After 2 weeks of multiple health screens and asking everyone to quarantine, I surprised my closest inner circle with a trip to a private island where we could pretend things were normal just for a brief moment in time.
For the first time since 2014 every single
#artbot
account is quiet. I appreciate all 1,6M of you who follow my accounts but need to take a step back and think about what I am doing... In the meantime, here’s Black Square by Kazimir Malevich.
Vincent van Gogh had a difficult relationship with his father - he felt unloved and misunderstood. However, once Vincent decided to pursue a career in art, his father was the first one to commission his work and even sent $ to a friend to buy Vincent’s art in secret 🥺
Vincent van Gogh spent his 30th birthday alone, reading Hugo’s Les Misérables. He wrote “Sometimes I can not believe that I am only thirty years old. I feel so much older when I think that most people who know me consider me a failure, and how it really might be so.”
I managed to get a hold of my relatives in Ukraine and so far everyone is safe - shocked, scared, but safe...
Meanwhile, In Russia Putin's thugs are cracking down on anti-war protests 🇺🇦✊
#solidarityWithUkraine
“Basquiat lived his paintings, he slept on them, walked on them, ate on them. He scribbled the phone numbers of his friends on them, outstanding debts, takeout menus, names of people and places, lists from reference books, his idea of history” — Basquiat, A Quick Killing In Art
In 1886 Vincent briefly attended a drawing course at the Antwerp art academy and horrified his instructors by drawing Classical Greek sculptures with large pelvises and buttocks. When a professor tried correcting his work Vincent flew into a rage and shouted:
The art bots are featured on the Observer Arts! Huge thanks to
@rahughes_
for showcasing the work
@ItsCodyBraun
and I are doing alongside other bot developers in the art space 🙏🤖
As of today,
@Broadcom
employees are required to show up to an office 1 out of 4 weeks starting the week of April 27th. Seriously? We write code and we've been productively working from home for weeks. I don't get it, how are essential employees? cc
@DHH
Over the weekend, I set up an account for the American impressionist painter, Julian Onderdonk (
@JulianOnderdonk
). I haven't seen so many bluebonnets, ever!
#Texas
#Americanartist
With all this art activity on Twitter, the French impressionist painter Maurice Utrillo couldn't stay away! Please welcome my latest art bot
@ArtistUtrillo
.
#artontwitter
#followart
Within days of arriving at Saint-Paul Asylum in Saint-Rémy, Vincent secured permission to set up a studio. For the first time in his career as an artist, he could draw and paint in public unmolested and unmocked.
The Garden of Saint-Paul Hospital October 1889
The British-born Mexican surrealist painter Leonora Carrington (
@LCarrington_Art
) is now on Twitter. Carrington lived most of her adult life in Mexico City and was one of the last surviving participants in the Surrealist movement of the 1930s.
#followart
#artontwitter
“I had some money, I made the best paintings ever. I was completely reclusive, worked a lot, took a lot of drugs. I was awful to people.” — Jean-Michel Basquiat, The New York Times
With
#COVID19
forcing museum closures all over the world I would like to encourage you to follow Museum Bots on Twitter. I know that it's not the same experience but it is something. Here's the list of 40+ museum art bots
There are a number of theories as to why Vincent van Gogh cut off his ear but the most accepted goes as follows 🧵Spoiler alert, it was not a present for a prostitute!
Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, 1889
Vincent was a difficult roommate, he was messy and conflict-prone. Here's what Theo wrote while sharing an apartment with Vincent: "There was a time what I loved Vincent and that he was my best friend, but that is now in the past. I wish he would go and live by himself..."
Please welcome the
#artbot
for the Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi (
@gentileschi_art
). Gentileschi specialized in painting pictures of strong and suffering women from myths, allegories, and the Bible.
#followart
#artontwitter
Hey Twitter, I made you a sculpture bot! The
@ham_sculpture
will expose you to thousands of sculptures from Harvard Art Museums (Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Arthur M. Sackler) collection. The collection includes items from different time periods and cultures
#followart
Hey Twitter, 800,000 of you wonderful people (and some bots) are following my art accounts and I appreciate every single one of you! Thank you for inviting art into your social media lives 🙏
Most of the
#artbot
accounts have been restricted or suspended for sending art recommendations to followers (Twitter considers that spam). I've disabled recommendations and will work with Twitter's team to bring the accounts back. Thanks for your support ✌️🤖
Since most of you are "socially isolating" at home, I made you another museum bot. You can now follow a massive collection of Paintings from Harvard Art Museums (Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Arthur M. Sackler). Check out
@harvard_artbot
#museumtwitter
#followart
A woman's Tinder profile said that she was into Hockey but in my art nerdiness I read Hockney. I got way too excited and flooded her with messages about pop art, Hockney, etc.. She never replied - the worlds of hockey and pop art don't often intersect 😂🤓
The art bots have crossed 1,5M Twitter followers! I am especially grateful to all art nerds who inflate that number by following more than one account 😂