All posts by Norma Smith

Paul Nash 1889 – 1946. Wire 1918 -1919.

Practice, The Arts,

Paul Nash was born in London in 1889, two years later the family moved to Buckinghamshire, his father was a lawyer, his mother died of a mental illness, his nurse and neighbours cared for him, his brother John was a painter. Paul Nash attended St.Paul’s School and then went to the Slade School of Art in London to train, his first exhibition was in 1912.
He joined the army at the start of WW1, reluctantly gaving up his art career. Later during the war he was to write:-
“I am no longer a painter interested and curious, I am a messenger who will bring back word from the men who are fighting to those who want the war to go for ever. Feeble, inarticulate, will be my message, but it will have a bitter truth, and may it burn their lousy souls.”

In France he fell into a trench breaking a rib so was sent back to England where he was commissioned to became a war painter for the Ministry of Information, enlisting in the Artists Rifles he was sent to the Western Front. Many of the sketches he did in the trenches were the basis for his war paintings. He became very unhappy working in France, hence the message he sent back to England. He was perhaps the most important painter of wars in both the first and second world wars.
In Wire he used chalk, ink and water colour on paper, he portrayed his horror of war with a scene of rain filled trenches, think of all that mud, a shattered tree and a dense web of barbed wire that we can imagine tears the skin, above we see a white sky with purple/red coloured clouds.
The painting is a symbol of the horror of war, with the barren earth and lifeless tree, the wire like a web entangles those who climb across it.
In the early 1920s he became prominent in the society of Wood Engravers and was a pioneer of modernism, he promoted avant -garde European styles of abstraction. Once WW1 ended he was free again to paint what inspired him including many landscapes. British landscapes inspired him most of all, he had a sense of their ancient history, he wished to show ‘the spirit of the place.’ Nash has been described as ‘the most evocative landscape painter of his generation.’ It can be argued that landscapes are the most popular art form, the Romantic painters liked to portray the grandeur and awe of mountain scenes, but the landscape in Wire tells a different story. Early influences were the work of painters like Samuel Palmer and William Blake, Nash saw himself working in the tradition of English mystical painters. Freud’s work on dreams also filtered into his work, he painted The Landscape from a Dream, between 1936-38, by then he was known as a surrealist painter.
In 1933 he,together with Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore formed a group called Unit One with Herbert Read, an art critic, their aim was to revitalise English art between the war years.
Nash married in 1914, the couple lived in Dorset, he died of heart failure in 1946.

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Giorgio de Chirico. 1888 – 1978. Metaphysical Painter.

Practice, The Arts, ,

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The subject of metaphysics has been discussed recently so I thought it an opportune time to write a little about the painter de Chirico, he was born in Greece, his father was an Italian engineer. While in Greece he studied art at the Polytechnic Institute in Athens, he was to move quite often, between 1906 and 1909 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, de Chirico was interested not only in painting but also in architecture, music and philosophy, especially the work of Nietzsche who had interpreted and published work on Greek tragedy, de Chirico wished his work to connect with Nietzschean motifs, themes and his actual life, he believed that his paintings ‘could embody a philosophical message, a collusion and collision between Modernism and Post Modernism,’ he wrote pamphlets on the subject. Nietzsche had written about Greek myths, for example he discussed the relationship between the brothers Apollo and Dionysis, sons of the god Zeus, they had different characteristics but Nietzsche found no conflict existing in their personalities, he saw a fusion of these characteristics, unlike later philosophers who claimed that there was a dichotomy, de Chirico agreed with Nietzsche. Apollo the sun god, was characterised as being the dreamer, reason was attributed to him together with logical thinking and creativity, Dionysis on the other hand was the god of wine, chaotic, prone to ecstacy and intoxication.

In 1909 the family moved to Ferrara in Italy, de Chirico was twenty one, between 1911 and 1915 he stayed in Paris where he met many artists, he had rejected Romanticism and Impressionism, he preferred to express the enigmatic side of ancient myth, Picasso was also interested in classical Greek myths as had many Renaissance artists. De Chirico was called up to do national service during WW1 but was not fit for service, so worked in a hospital in Ferrara where he met the artist Carlo Carra, together they formed the Metaphysical Art movement,- Pittura Metafisica – the bulk of the work in this genre was produced between 1911 and 1920. It has been said that de Chirico reached a watershed in the way that the arts of the early 20thc. was evolving, he constantly invented and portrayed the body in new ways in relation to space.
The work of Freud was influential, we have thinkers today who study how the mind functions, but Freud was a father figure, his work on interpreting dreams interested many painters including the Surrealists, de Chirico soon distanced himself from the Surrealists, they liked to paint memories of their dreams where reality and dream worlds mingle, also they were made aware of the irrational impulses which influence behaviour as referred to by Freud.

De Chirico was impressed by the grandeur of Italian piazzas particularly those in Turin, he painted architectural scenes which cast long shadows, giving the paintings an eerie atmosphere which are rather threatening at times, he was obsessed with the presentation of enigma- ‘poetic revelations, the eternal meanings of things as he saw it or the enigma of things and bodies.’ His landscapes and dark toned skies created a sense of the mysterious – De Chirico’s use of titles such as The Enigma of the Oracle and the Enigma of an Autumn Afternoon helped to further the mysterious character of the work. There seems to be no rational explanation for the strange juxtaposition of his images, we have to trust that these were his dreams and his interpretation of them, perhaps they emerged from somewhere deep in his conscious or unconscious mind, it would be interesting to hear your views?

I have chosen his painting entitled The Disquieting Muses, painted around 1917, he was imagining the enigmatic side of ancient mythic creatures, in the background we see, set among industrial buildings, the Castle of Estense, in the front are two muses, Melomenes and Thalia, the muses of Tragedy and Comedy, one is standing, the other is sitting on a blue/green coloured box, de Chirico liked to use geometric shapes such as the box. The sky is a dark green with light on the horizon, is it dawn or dusk?  The main source of light comes from the direction of the lower right side of the painting, creating long shadows, a contrast between light and dark, the muses are dressed in classical Greek clothes they are like faceless mannequins, it was thought that to give them features would have lessened their impact as portraying the human spirit, they would become too ordinary. He uses ochres and browns, the muses are a yellow/cream colour, we also see a mask and a staff and the god Apollo stands on a plinth, he is the leader of the muses. De Chirico was for a time involved with the Surrealists as mentioned earlier, but they were to reject his work later on. At one time he was to reject his own work but returned to it when it was in fashion once again. Also relevant to this time is the political turmoil, where Italian fascists were seen in a different light from the German fascists although both groups were influenced by the work of Nietzsche whose philosophy I understand could be intepreted in several ways, working at this time were a group of Futurist painters who also admired the philosophy; speed and industrialisation was praised, no more Romanticism of the past, they viewed war as a unifying force for the nation.
De Chirico lived to be ninety, he married twice, his second wife remained with him.

The poet Sylvia Plath wrote The Disquieting Muses, here is the first verse:

Mother, mother, what ill bred aunt

Of what disfigured and unsightly

Cousin did you so unwisely keep

Unmasked to my christening, that she

Sent these ladies in her stead

With these heads like darning-eggs to nod

And nod and nod at foot and hand

And at the left side of my crib?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_de_Chirico

Georgio Morandi. 1890 – 1964. Still Life.

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A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, its origins are found in the Middle Ages and ancient Greco-Roman art, it was first seen in Western art in the early 16th. century when the paintings often contained religious and allegorical symbolism relating to the objects depicted,  we see how these objects lose their domestic purpose to become sculptural objects  ‘that may invite meditation and contemplation’,  we slow down and focus when looking at them.

Morandi solved the problem of ambiguity in meaning, i.e.  domestic objects or motifs in art, reaching an integration that gives the objects new meaning, it is possible to give new meaning to most works of art , some artists are more skillful than others in conveying what they wish to express, some art critics interpret the intention in the work in a way the artist has not. ‘His work ( Morandi) is not about depicting the solidity of objects but rather interpreting them as a metaphor of light, space, body and time’ I think this is so, others may disagree.

Georgio Morandi was born in Bologna, Italy, he spent most of his life  living with his mother and sisters, he had a second home in the Appenines. He studied for six years at the Academia de Belle art in Bologna, He was aware of paintings by Giotto, Massaccio,  Uccelli and Monet and very much admired the work of Cezanne, whose use of geometric shapes, like the cube and cylinder, when painting landscapes and still lifes, was to influence his own work. He knew Futurist painters and writers and exhibited work with them, also Surrealist painters like de Chirico, although he didn’t share their philosophy. He didn’t travel abroad until 1956 and then he did not go to Paris, the hub of artistic creativity at the time.

In this still life which Morandi painted in 1956, he arranged eight objects in two lines, the colours are beautifully muted, he did at times use the earthy colours of his native Bologna. He wrote ‘The only interest the visible world awakens in me concerns space, colour and forms’,  as mentioned earlier, these themes crop up often  when describing his work, he uses these elements to transform what he sees into what he paints, so we see how he places his objects, chooses the colour and creates new shapes, groups of objects create new boundaries. Some critics have been critical of Morandi for using  the objects over and over again while others write that the objects ‘are not there at all.’ His work oscillates between figurative and abstract, it ‘is elusive as well as self revealing’ and as mentioned earlier sometimes his objects overlap or are grouped in blocks, so that a contour becomes a boundary shared by two or more objects.

Looking at his work we can sense a stillness, the groups are an island of calm , the bowl, bottle or pitcher provide their own stability and balance. One art critic wrote ‘In the limitation of Morandi’s motifs appears the abundance of his world.’ He successfully remained focused on very familiar objects for many years just as Cezanne had painted the same mountain time and time again. Space became indistinguishable from the object.  George Lakoff describes it as ‘in betweeness’ that also contains meaning. Looking at more  of Morandi’s work would be of help to see how he creates a variety of shapes gained from the same objects, I enjoy turning his paintings upside down to see the objects/spaces from a new angle. He was an excellent draughtsman and left a large body of work in many media – oils, watercolours, drawings and etchings.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_Morandi

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Edward Hopper 1882 – 1967. An American Realist Painter.

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In this painting by Edward Hopper called Nighthawks, 1942, we see an example from a school of painters who became known as Realist Painters,  Realist art represented subject matter truthfully without artificiality and avoiding artistic conventions, implausible, exotic and supernatural elements. American scenes and symbols were the subjects of their work.

Nighthawks is one of Hopper’s most well known paintings, in it we see an empty city street at night with an interior containing four figures. We can imagine that we view the painting as though it is a scene on a cinema screen, our eyes are drawn to the figures in the cafe. Hopper spent a long time before making a start on the canvas,  working slowly and methodically he uses shapes and diagonals which are carefully constructed helped by referring to preparatory sketches, I imagine his sketches would have more spontaneity, the figures are placed in a way to create the proper balance between them and the environmnet. Light and dark were used to great effect, the fluorescent lighting created an eerie glow rather like a beacon, saturated oil colour  provides the mood. The couple and another customer sit while the waiter stands head raised, ready to take orders, but they are lost in ther own thoughts, there is no sign of them communicating with each other, the light playing on the simplified shapes gives the work a kind of beauty, warmth in the atmosphere is missing.

Hopper painted his feelings about middle class conformity, lives that seemed dull and stagnant. He denied that he was using symbols though many art critics thought that his images reflected the ‘national spiritual vacuum’,  he did admit that perhaps he was using them unconsciously, he was aware of Freud’s work and wrote ‘so much of every art is an explanation of the subconscious that it seems to me most of all the important questions are put there unconsciously and little of importance to the conscious intellect’.

Much of his work was influenced by the themes of an earler painter  called Burchfield who created symbolic projections of a private ennui and impenetrable monotony present in the large American cities at the time.  Anonymous brick house fronts, neon signs, cinema interiors, even the pavements, diners and petrol pumps were portrayed. Art critics described Nighthawks as a metaphor for loneliness and life robbed of relevance to feeling. Hopper disagreed saying that the characters were like predators in the night, hence the title he gave the work, they look sullen as they rest in the characterless surroundings, Hopper managed to create a dream like quality to the painting by the use of colour, light and shadow.

Edward Hopper was born into a Baptist family, his ancestry had some Dutch roots. He was a serious young man wih a good sense of humour, rather reclusive and introvert, he admired French and Russian culture also the paintings of Manet, Degas and Rembrandt. He married a lively young painter, outgoing and fun, but she was prepared to join him in his quiet way of life, she was his model quite often and was probably a model in Nighthawks and Hopper himself too. He was also an etcher and produced posters in WW2. As a painter in watercolours he was also very successful, his images were city scenes and seascapes. He earnt his keep in the early days of his career doing illustrations but disliked the work and was pleased when he could stop. In 1906 he went to Paris, returned to America and exhibited at the Exhibition of Independents in 1910. One of his tutors called Sloan and also the artist Degas used themes like uglines of provincial life or an existance lacking romantic fullfillent, all early influences on Hopper. He  later abandoned painting in order to concentrate on etching.

 

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Rain, Steam and Speed 1844. J M W Turner 1775-1851.

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This oil painting was first exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1844, it now belongs to the National Gallery, London. Turner was 76 years old when Rain, Steam and Speed was exhibited. As a young man he lived with his father in London, who would prepare his canvasses and varnish the work when completed, he was deeply affected by his father’s death in 1830, his mother had become insane in later life and her illness may have formed Turner’s melancholy nature, the death at 28 of his friend and fellow painter Thomas Girtin also affected him deeply. During his lifetime he had witnessed many changes in society as a result of the Industrial Revolution, I have chosen the steam train as a metaphor for this transformation from a mainly agrarian society to an industrial one. He moved many times, having lived in Harley Street, Queen Anne Street and in Hammersmith, he liked to live near water and moved later to a house in Twickenham. He is famed for his seascapes, he would go out in wild seas on board boats and for his landscapes painted in Britain and Europe. His life was dedicated to painting in oils and watercolours and he left many sketches to the nation, he remained single. Turner began his working life painting wash backgrounds and skies on architectural drawings, once he became well known he became a tutor at the Royal Academy and painted many commissions for wealthy patrons like Lord Egremont who lived in Petworth, some of his paintings still hang in Petworth House.
The train in this painting ran on the Great Western Railway, one of a number of privately owned railways, this line ran from Taplow to Maidenhead, then over the Thames on a bridge built by I K Brunel, heading towards East London. Railways had evolved since the first engines were built in the early 17th century, trains pulled wagons which ran on wooden rails to carry coal from mines to canals, where canal boats were pulled by horses along tow paths to the growing towns. Cast iron rails were replaced by stronger wrought iron tracks. By the 1850s people as well as goods were being transported by trains as they became popular and there was plenty of coal to fuel them.
In this painting the train is crossing a bridge, people are seen sitting in open wagons, steam billows from the funnel, we can see a rowing boat on the river, someone holds up an umbrella, the sky is filled with swirling rain clouds. I cannot see it, the copy is too small, but there is in the lower right hand corner a hare, maybe a comment on the times, trains were ‘destroying the sublime elements of nature’ said one critic. Technology perhaps was feared as progressing too fast.
Turner was a British Romantic painter, his work is full of light ‘to whom a cosmic vision was more significant than a precise observation of reality. The world was merely an alibi for his canvasses where forms all but dissolve.’ Form, definition and photographic truth were abandoned,’ each particle of matter is part of a whole that is in a constant state of change’ I particularly like that phrase! His work would influence future painters, Impressionists such as Pissaro and Monet.
Turner was elderly and sick in 1844, he carried on working, his life had always lacked comfort, he took little interest in his dress and could be miserly at times, at others very generous, especially to young striving painters, he had an affection for birds and animals which softened his grumpy character. He held no religious or supernatural beliefs. He had loyal friends like Ruskin but also many critics, Ruskin admired his work in articles he published.
During his life he constantly travelled in England, Scotland and to Europe, he appreciated the light in Venice, always sketching and painting, he also visited other areas of Italy, France and Switzerland, forever searching for subjects. The Tate Gallery holds a collection of his watercolours. His memories of light, colour and atmosphere were not dimmed by his ill health when this painting was created.

link. en.wickipedia.org/wik/Rain_Steam_and_Speed

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