Olivia Pendergast, another of Mondo Fine Art's talented artists, has been painting for over ten years, simply painting as a response to what she is experiencing in her life.  Olivia sites several artists who have inspired and influenced her paintings: Modigliani, Alice Neel, Egon Schiele, Jenny Saville, and Degas. Amedeo Modigliani was an Italian artist who worked primarily in France as a figurative artist.  Modigliani became famous for his modern style with mask-like faces and elongated forms.  Olivia states that she was influenced by his "gentle, simple portraits of Humanity." Egon Schiele was a major figurative painter in the early 1900s.  Schiele's work uses an intensity in the twisted bodies and expressive lines that give his work an element of  Expressionism.  His bold use of line is one of the primary influences on Olivia. Olivia says "There is an unspeakable [...] feeling that arises when I see line being used in art.  It seems to try to define what cannot be defined, what could never be truly known." Jenny Saville is an English artist best known for her monumental images of women.  Olivia has been influenced by the way Saville has used weight in her images. Alice Neel was a famous American portrait artist.  Her paintings involved anyone from friends and family to other artists or even strangers.  Her work is known for expressionistic line and color, psychological insight and emotional intensity. "Truth about form and [the] grotesqueness of humanity" are the influential elements of Neel's work that Olivia sited. Olivia expresses admiration for the use of composition and negative space in Degas' works. Edgar Degas was a French painter who was one of the primary founders of the Impressionist movement, though he rejected the term as it applied to his work.  Degas was a master at portraying movement, especially in his well known works of dancers. Besides artistic influences, Olivia is inspired by the people she paints.  She says "I paint whatever breaks my heart" - whether it is musicians, nature, children, or people she has met in her travels. Two years ago Olivia had the opportunity to spend four months in Malawi, Africa, with the "goal to paint" and to find inspiration in a new people and way of life. One of the highlights of her trip was a visit to the Amatofo Care Center, a Buddhist orphanage, where she spent time drawing and reading with the children. Olivia is still working on paintings of the Malawian people after returning from a second trip to Africa earlier this year.  She has also recently returned from doing humanitarian work in Haiti, where she had the opportunity to work with the children. To view available works by Olivia, please visit her Mondo profile HERE.  We will be receiving new works from Olivia in the next month or so.  If you would like to be the first to view these new works, please enter your info on our contact page and click the box next to Olivia's name.