Georges Braque

I am intrigued by the similarity of Braques work compared to Pablo Picasso's cubist paintings. The style and colours seem reflective of one another and demonstrate a closeness either as respected colleagues or at least an inspiration from similar sources if not each other.

The following image is called Violin and Candlestick. It has a striking resemblance to the image by picasso in the previous posting of woman with mandolin:

I like the flat planes, with shading in sands and grey accentuating the corners of the planes with the light leading to the edge of the picture. This effect leads the eye away constantly, from the objects in the centre and bottom of the image. It's as if the eyes dance across the picture rather like the inaudible notes of the violin. The light in the left side of the picture perhaps being thrown by the unlit candle on the right, or perhaps the flame is represented by the grey rectangle. The painting asks to be looked into again and again and I find it inviting.

A later painting from 1939, just at the point of the beginning of the second world war is in happy contrast to this image above:

The painting does not have such a cubist style dominant though flat planes still make up the objects represented. Colours are brighter and brush strokes less emphatic. I love the layering and transparency of some of the objects such as the paint palette and brushes. It seems to float on the table like a ghost and I wonder to the meaning of this choice to represent the articles of making art in this way. That the artist and process should be invisible and subordinate to the idea, or the choice of an artist to remain invisible whilst a painting is very visible. Braque was badly wounded in the first world war and I wonder how this affected his sense of self as a person and as a painter, if their is a relationship or ghost of this experience in his painting. I feel I'd like to talk to him about this painting to help me understand what he was saying and whether I'm reading him accurately. I also just like the painting!

Artistic Reactions to World War I

Why did the 1st World War Happen?

A simplistic answer to this question is that it was triggered by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the archduke of Austria-Hungary and the following July Crisis. The crisis followed a series of diplomatic clashes between Italy, France, Britain, Austria-Hungary and Russia regarding Europe and the colonies reaching back to the 1860's. Tensions between the power bases were high and war was predicted to be inevitable.

As a consequence of the devastation, sociologically, globally, and individually, art and artists, as many professions and individuals, were forced to re-evaluate their place in the world, the meaning of society, their safety in the world, as well as their direct response to the war, including pacifist and proactive responses. Conflict between communities, including artists seemed to reflect the number of factions and "isms" that evolved. Instead of one tradition or evolution of art style or fashion following another in a more linear way, factions and approaches to artistic response to the world seemed to proliferate. it reflects the fragmenting of society and the individual psyche. It must have been like a massive earth quake, rupturing communities and ways of living as well as the perceived safety of ones self, family and future. Internal fragmenting is a normal response to trauma and this is unsurprisingly reflected in the art community and in the way art was then made. The many "isms" resulting from people and groups trying to find their place in the world that seemed to be shattering around them. Trying to re-establish the safety of a group and a new way to express the newness of the war experience may have played it's part in this blossoming or fragmenting (or both) of the wider art community. There were many paintings and drawing produced with a direct focus on war by war artists and artists representing the scenes of war. For example:

Paul Nash "The Menin Road" 1919

Artists also depicted the effects of war on communities, the aftermaths of battle and the lives of people "at home" living through these changes.

Artists also responded with art that seemed to represent the struggle to hold on to familiar images. Cubism was perhaps a natural response to the changes in socity and the desire for something new despite the war. I can't help but see the fragmentation of images so familiar and held affectionately as at least one reflection of the impact of war. During a group discussion we shared our individual research and ideas about various paintings, sculpture and concepts relating to the period of the great war. I was fascinated by the following image by Pablo Picasso, a master of cubism:

The painting has a distinct duality for me of beauty made ugly by the dislocation of the rounded image of a woman and a mandolin into flat angular planes. The grey and darker colours in the background feel like oppression closing in whilst trying to retain the beauty of music making. It is still a beautiful image but your eye has to fight to create the mental adjustment to recreate the beauty. A metaphor for dealing with war and it's consequences perhaps.

 
The following link is a summary of 10 of the art movements that evolved during and just before the first world war when those sensitive to the changes that probably contributed to the outburst of world war were grappling in their communities and psyches to express what they were sensing in their worlds.

https://www.britannica.com/list/10-modernist-art-movements

John William Waterhouse

A joyous opportunity to indulge in some pre-raphaelite art. John William Waterhouse was my favourite artist whilst a student, and his highly detailed and romantic images appealed hugely to me as a late teenager! I loved and still love the rich colours, the op ulent drapey clothing, beautiful faces of the women he chose, often looking sad and wrestling with tragedy. The drama and unachievable perfection took prominence on the walls of mine and many of my student friends. I still hold onto the following image and adorns my bathroom!

This picture contains many of my favourite elements. Firstly the dominance of the blue, prussian blue and turquoise greens I think is the element that makes me look longest at this image. I love water and the pouring of it spilling over the flat oval dish I love. I can't define why, I think it's the elegance of the bowl and the abundance of the water spilling from a magical source. I am regularly drawn to pictures if they include woodland, especially if they include trees that step out of a fairy tale. It's one of my all time favourite pictures whilst being aware of the highly romantic and unreal representation of women. I don't care!!!!

My other favourite colour pallete is the amethyst purples. I love the fact that the heather and amethyst hues feature in the dress and wrap of Boreas, the tree canopies and tree bark, the sky and hints of it in the grass. The colour is more important than any other element but the general windswept scene also has an extremely attractive quality. I gave up this image a couple of decades ago but maybe a small print could sneak back into a quiet corner.

I add this final image as the original in the Tate in real life is mesmerising. The execution of the scene and observation of the plants and trees in foreground and background is beautiful. The water looks like you could touch it and come away with wet fingers and knock your hand on the side of the boat. It is so realistically painted and the elements are so beautiful I find them different to other realistically painted images. I realise I have fallen for the romantic ideal but still admire the quality of the painting and composition.

The Differences between Impressionism and Post-Impressionism - Group Discussion

We discussed in small groups the differences between impressionism and post-impressionism.

I think there is a strong relationship in the styles but there are subtle and distinct differences:

The types of new man-made pigments offered greater variation from the earthier tones of traditional paints. New bright colours were an exciting opportunity to make new images and experiment. Colour was being explored in a more scientific way.

Brush marks were more apparent as a style choice. Vincent Van Gogh, made very distinct use of brush stroke as an important element in itself of the image. This could add to the more abstracted style in many of the post impression pictures. Painters could give themselves a more definite personal "signature" by their brush marks, for example, Van Gogh's very deliberate swirls and deep dashe and Seurat's dots. The degree of experimentation seemed greater than the shifts that have occurred between other era's of art style. The speed of social change may have facilitated this.

Abstraction was greater. Simplifying shape and line, using colour more colour block, moving away from the element as seen in reality, to a suggestion of the image.

Because painting materials were now more ready made and mobile, the subject of the painting could move away from studio to outdoor scenes, painting what is seen. This gave the opportunity and inspiration to play more with light.

I found this a helpful and thought provoking discussion, leading me to look more carefully and observantly. As always I want to see paintings I like in real life to observe these elements.


 

Pablo Picasso - Drawings

I am fascinated by Picasso's evolution and variation in drawing style.

His "simple" line drawings almost seem to belie his skill in the technically accurate realism of his early drawing skill. I believe, in order to produce such dramatic and engaging pieces of art such as Picasso's line drawings, you have to teach your eye, muscle and brain to draw with such accuracy before minimising the lines to the essentials and still capture the spirit, beauty and essense of the person or subject. This belief helps me push on and enjoy the slow mastery of drawing line, shade etc.

  

I also love the less formal style of his self portrait. For me the eyes are the focal point and I feel they are communicating his personality, warmth, seriousness, allertness and slightly hungry looking. Looking for something important. I like the heavy use of charcoal and feel its dramatic use balances his strong features. The marks are confident and definate and yet there is a delicacy to the strong jawline. I find the piece very communicative, also perhaps because the eyes are looking right out of the drawing at the observer. I have to keep looking.

  

Another style and very delicate with different mark making, I love the drawing of this young woman. The lines that make her face are delicate, minimalist, soft, though she communicates individuality. The shading of her beret and clothes, and her neck are stronger, perhaps accentuating the delicacy of her face. His line and mark making are beautiful, and he chooses how to present the image too. She is looking slightly past the artist's shoulder it seems, a little lost in thought. I wonder what she is thinking or gazing mid distance at. I think it's a lovely image.

Hilma Af Klint

I Love Circles, Squares and Triangles!

The Swan, No. 15 (1915)

Oil on Canvas 

I really like the work of Hilma Af Klint. I find her work even more intrigueing as her geometric and more abstract looking work was completed before abstract artists such as Kandinsky. I particularly like this image above. I am really attracted to geometric art. I like the simplicity and yet within it, there is so much depth. The black and white triangles at counterpoint and meeting on a horizon with a sun or moon rising or setting is a striking image and metahor. I love that the image is essentially made of a circle, a square and 2 triangles in a minimal pallete of mostly black and white, and yet the overall image feels so complex. I find it beautiful.

No. 2, Childhood (1907)

Oil on Canvas

I also like this image. I love the balance and contrast of the bold, slightly overlapping circles at the bottom of the painting, with the pastel and more floral circles at the top half of the painting. Again, the painting does suggest a strong metaphor, rather than just an attractive painting. The lavender and pinks seem to balance and be "anchored" by the strong textured royal blue and the yellow gold communicates with the gold and lemons above it. Hilma Af Klint said her paintings were inspired directly from the spirit world. They do have a strongly ethereal feel in my view. 

The Swan, No.17 (1914)

Oil on Canvas

I find I admire Hilma Af Klints attunement to the changes in the art world when I look at this image. She was not part of the network of abstract artists that were experimenting with this style and yet I don't think this painting would look out of place in the Bauhaus styles evolving some years later. 

What do we mean by Modernism?

Class discussion about some of the factors that influenced the emergence of the modernist era.

There is some debate about the start of the modernist movement, some saying it was establishing in 1900 but for the sake of the course the era of study is 1860 to 1960. Literature, music, design, art were all moving away from a traditional understanding and expression.

In small groups we discussed some of these influences:

The first and second world wars threw Europe into many changes. The requirement for ingenuity, survival and then something better to make such devestating and traumatic loss have some meaning was a huge force for change in the creative world.

There was tremendous social change that was being realised as a consequence of industrialisation and scientific changes and a sudden increase in the mechanisation of traditional industries including the craft industries that had started over 100 years previously. This left people either out of traditional roll and much poorer, or advantaged by these changes. A shift in how society viewed productivity and the rapidity with which it began to expect commodities, also shifted a mindset to speedier ways of producing art, as well as more available time to appreciate it. I believe a felt sense of change allows for other ways of seeing the world, objects and concepts including art. a greater openness to the new was available despite great resistence. The tension of this in the individual and collective psyche allowed for the emergence of the modernist movement and its many strands and isms.

The increases in technology included speedier and cheaper ways to travel and communicate, thus more people were exposed to more global influences of types of art and artifacts. This emerged in many artists work.

Industrialisation meant that housing and communities evolved around urban areas of manufacturing, thus creating bigger and bigger towns and cities and so people were presented with more diversity. Part of industrialisation also provoked some ideals about housing and community design such as Port Sunlight on the Wirral, an integral part of the community being an art gallery and library.

New technologies impacted the art world directly in the production of new and high quality art materials: paints, papers etc.

I think a huge contribution to the modernist movement is the emergence of psychoanalysis and an increasing curiosity and understanding of the unconscious level of mind and human functioning. The focus on symbol and metaphor paralleled the emergence of the abstract movement where the meaning was overtaking the importance of the representative object.

Society in terms of occupation, religious philosophy and values was diversifying. A desire for individuality and exploration was a powerful force in the individual and cultural psyche.

The library task produced many examples of the diversity of styles of art and design, and applications to pieces of art work, architecture, household objects, publicity posters, clothing and footwear. The discovery of artists influencing directly the design of furniture, clothing, building is very exciting. I selected a favourite artist: Piet Mondrian and found that his geometric, primary coloured squares were integrated into the design of the foyer of a university college building in 1923.

Food for Thought - Kandinsky Retrospective Exhibition at Vanderbilt University

In summary, 3 fascinating lectures held by Vanderbilt Universities office of community, neighbourhood and government relations. It explored aspects of Kandinsky's influences and some of the driving forces in his art and life. I was struck by a statement by Reverend Dr. Emillie M. Townes in the lecture relating to materialism, religion and spirituality:

"As I experience Kandinsky he is painting a world that is sacred in all aspects, turning different elements for us to enter into the painting. To be in conversation with our inner selves, the spiritual that is both deeply internal and sublimely transcendent. This does not call for religious belief. It calls for a willingness of the viewer to let go of the material world and experience depths of meaning not tied to comforting objects. Kandinsky is painting the inephable that he finds in a spiritual universe, sounds and colours. God is in the detail and need not be named."

I found this a hugely helpful window to explore not only the personal impact of Kandinsky's work but other painters that I am already drawn to, particularly Paul Klee, Georgia O'Keeffe, Mark Rothko and others.


Here is the link to this lecture:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riunLgPcpBI

The following link is to the lecture: Exploring Connections Through Music. I found this helped me understand and "see" Kandinsky's work in this new dimension and helped me understand what he may be trying to communicate. Emotion through colour and form.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CImYLB8NUGM

The final lecture which I also found illuminating was about the strong evidence that he was a synesthete. This extra sensorial experiencing is part of the gift within his art. The harmonies of the colour that he hears and communicates translate to me when I look at his work. It is dynamic and holds my attention, making me want to understand what he's saying and also what the colour language means, not as a functional language but an emotional language in the moment.

Here is the link to Kandinsky and Synesthesia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O14leHpm5fc

These lectures were all found on youtube.

I have selected a number of images that I love to stare at! The top image: study of improvisation 5 (1910), shows a less distinct style compared to his later work related to his time at the bauhaus and the influences of those contempories. His vibrant use of colour is consistent and marks all his work in my view. His work is distinctive to me whether he is painting with more formless shape, as in the third example or whether with more geometric shape such as the image immediately above: circles in a circle (1923). I love the balance of vivid colour with striking shape. The assemblage of the shapes, lines and background colours punches me in the guts in a really good way! They are beautiful, impactful and I do get a sense of the musicality from the "noise" of the resounding colours. They are not discordant and clashing but beautifully woven.    

Wassily Kandinsky (1866 - 1944)

Wassily Kandinsky

I find the work of Wassily Kandinsky vibrant and engaging. His influences included his early life in Russia and his religious catholic upbringing. Many symbols and images are prominent in his work. Music and colour were also of paramount importance to him and when he painted he described experiencing colour as a language. Those that have explored his letters and diary entries suggest strongly that he was a synesthete. He experienced dynamic colour in the sound of certain kinds of music. The result of all these influences and capacities is pieces of work that are multi-sensorial and symphonic. He was among a number of artists who believed that this kind of art had the capacity to communicate a spiritual world that was beyond the material and had the power to transcend humanity to a higher level.