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Bubba VonMax Art

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Bubba VonMax Art

Bubba VonMax (aka Max Kidwell) is an award winning artist whose creativity covers a broad range of artistic endeavors.

Whether painting with an assortment of objects, blasting paint with 60 psi of air, transferring photographs to glass, doodling or building Cigar Box Guitars, Bubba VonMax is constantly seeking new ways to express himself with his art. We hope that you will enjoy viewing his works here.

06/02/2026

Countdown to the Top 5 is winding down and I just wanted to thank everyone for their support. Facebook blocking hasn't helped, but apparently they have done this to just about every artist in the contest. Thank You all for your support.

05/25/2026

"General Quarters, Battle Stations" (1940-42) - McClelland Barclay (1891-1943)
Memorial Day was intended as a day of remembrance for all of the brave men and women who we killed during their service to our great nation. One of which was Lieutenant Commander Barclay.

Born in St. Louis, Barclay began his career as a magazine illustrator in 1912. He quickly became know for using bold colors to paint strikingly beautiful women in rather simple settings. He also illustrated fiction for many of the large circulation magazines. His use of color and his ability to capture the flowing grace of his subjects made his covers for The Saturday Evening Post and The Country Gentleman particularly memorable.

Appointed to Lieutenant Commander in the United States Naval Reserve during World War II, Barclay began serving as a combat artist. Much of his work appeared on the cover of Sea Power magazine because of its realistic rendering of action scenes. He was also commissioned to paint officer portraits and to develop propaganda posters to encourage support of the war effort.

Barclay made short tours of duty in both the Atlantic and the Pacific aboard battleships U.S.S. Arkansas(BB-33), U.S.S. Pennsylvania (BB-38), and U.S.S. Maryland (BB-46). On 18 July 1943, Barclay was aboard LST-342 (Landing Ship, Tank) when it was torpedoed by Japanese submarine at 1:30 a.m. He had been on board since the first of the month, sketching and taking photographs, during which time LST-342 had been carrying ammunition and supplies to Rendova, New Georgia in the Solomon Islands from Guadalcanal. The torpedo struck the aft portion of the ship where officers and others, including Barclay, were berthed. The stern sank immediately. Barclay, along with most of the crew, perished. The bow of the LST remained afloat and was towed to a beach on the island of Ghavutu so that any useable equipment could be salvaged. Remains of the ship are still rusting there today.

Barclay was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal, and entitled to the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; the Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaign Medal; the American Area Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.

05/24/2026

Giuseppe Arcimboldo - "Portrait of Adan" (1578)

OH MY!

I had just taken a sip of my coffee when this image came up. Needless to say I had to wipe down my keyboard and wait for it to dry. I was good until I noticed the one body that looks like it's hu***ng Adam's nose. That plus the fact that Adam is holding a rolled up paper that to me looks as though he's about to swat the dude off of his face.

Artistically speaking, Giuseppe's paintings are incredible, his technique and his attention to the smallest of details is incredible. Although his subject matter might be a bit cray (did I use that correctly?) to most of us, his skills as an artist are undeniable.

05/23/2026

"Portrait of Eve" (1578) - Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Okay, as if his paintings of fruit humans wasn't enough, our buddy, Giuseppe doubles down on the strange with his "Portrait of Eve." Yes, Adam's Eve of Adam and Eve fame. By the way, just in case you might be wondering, yes, Eve's face is made out of human bodies. Bizarre? Yeah....a little..

However, my friends, as unconventional as this portrait is, there’s actually some logic behind the artist’s choice. The Eve in this painting is the Biblical Eve (notice the apple), the first woman and the mother of all humankind. Therefore, the bodies that make up her face represent the innumerable human descendants that trace their lineage back to Eve. In this painting, her body is literally composed of all the bodies produced by her bloodline. You could say that Eve has all of humankind within her flesh. It’s an interesting, even if a somewhat creepy artistic choice.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo, for those who don't remember, is the artist famous for his composite portraits, in which human faces are constructed from objects like fruit, books, and even fish. His art is utterly unique in the story of Western painting, and, as such, it’s notoriously difficult to interpret. However, I think it’s safe to say that it’s wildly entertaining and charming. Or, at least, it’s normally entertaining and charming. Maybe it’s the naked people that grabbing on to Eve’s hair band, but I actually find this painting kind of disturbing. Looking at it too long makes you a little queasy in my experience. However, if you’re still up for more weird art, there’s a matching painting of Adam created in the same bizarre style.

05/22/2026

"Modern Rhapsody." - "Television - Communication. The Seven Lively Arts" - (1957) - Salvador Dali

In “Modern Rhapsody,” Dali gives us a scene that defies logic and conventional representation. The central figures are distorted, with elongated limbs and altered proportions, evoking a sense of movement and dynamism. One figure appears to be an old movie camera, with an eye on the top which sprouts multiple flexible arms ending in telephone handsets as well as perhaps a spotlight shining on a female figure whose features are obscured and entwined with flowing drapery, contributing to a sense of fluidity and transformation.

The background of the artwork displays a barren landscape, which is not uncommon in Dali's paintings. There are flaming giraffes (which would make a great name for a cocktail) running through vast, open spaces that border on the infinite.
All of this from the man who once stated, "I don't do drugs. I am drugs."

Colors vary from sharp contrasts to subtle gradations, and the use of light and shadow imparts a dramatic flair to the scene. The artwork requires viewers to disengage from realistic interpretations and instead delve into a world of symbolism, emotions, and the subconscious—a characteristic hallmark of the Surrealist period.

05/21/2026

"Saturn Devouring His Son" (1823) - Francisco Goya (1746 - 1828)

Traditionally, Goddesses and Gods are typically shown as the ideal of beauty, even in their most unpleasant circumstances. But wait; here comes Francisco Goya! In this portrayal of Saturn, he clearly deviated from the convention. But I digress. According to legend, the titan Saturn was foretold through prophesy that one of his children would replace him and seize his dominion. Saturn, predictably, was not a fan of the notion. He enjoyed his authority and desired to preserve it. So what better way could one think of in order to accomplish this? Well, Saturn ate one of his children. Now we could end the story there, however, unbeknownst to Saturn, his wife Rei, had concealed their youngest child, Zeus to protect the lad form becoming a main course.. It worked out well as in the end, Zeus triumphed.
Goya has provided us with a stunningly gloomy scene that portrays the effect of what is basically the egos on our own conduct, which is depicted as this example. His Saturn as a goblin-like monster, something most of us would regard sub-human as if to convey that power also impacts our look. Yet, Goya's Saturn does not look to be powerful or god-like. He's gigantic, however his limbs look somewhat twisted and perhaps even frail. He is definitely gigantic and he's got those crazy eyes. He obviously did not dress for dinner. I wonder if there was a side salad?

05/20/2026

"Dante and Virgil in Hell" - (1850) - William Adolphe-Bouguereau (1825 - 1905)
Bouguereau was a French academic painter, a staunch traditionalist whose realistic genre paintings and mythological themes were modern interpretations of Classical subjects. As we see, this painting was inspired by a page of Dante’s Inferno, with a gorgeous setting; the eighth circle of hell appropriately set apart for rejecters and forgers. That seems nice enough. That is until you notice the smiling bat-demon hovering overhead, or the weird mound of bodies in the backdrop, or the two people ripping each other to bits.

As an artist, Bouguereau created an idealized world, his almost photo-realistic style was popular with rich art patrons. He was very famous in his time but today his subject matter and technique receive relatively little attention compared to the popularity of the Impressionists.

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Winfield, KS
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