WINTER LANDSCAPE - CASPAR FRIEDRICH

Caspar Friedrich (1774-1840) was one of the leading artists of the German Romanticism art movement.  His aspiration was not to paint true representations of what he saw, but wanted his work to "reflect the artist's soul and emotions in the landscape."  

 

Winter Landscape - 1811

This painting introduces us to a bleak winter scene with a snow-covered ground stretching as far as the eye can see.  It features an old man, bent over with two wooden sticks or crutches, between two gnarled tree trunks.  To the left of the man are the stumps of trees that have been cut down.  Some art historians suggest this is symbolic of the end of life and that the painting is an allegory for the aged man coming to the end of his life....as the landscape and vegetation have also reached the end of their life cycle. 

The same year, 1811, Friedrich painted a companion piece showing a contradictory sequence to the first painting.  

Winter Landscape with Church - 1811

In this second painting, the artist paints a Gothic church emerging out of the misty backdrop, with a red-tinted threatening winter sky.  In the middle of the picture we have to look closely to see the same man leaning back against a boulder.  He had arrived at the end of his journey, and here he is leaning back, gazing up in prayer at the crucifix that's positioned in front of a cluster of evergreen trees.  The figure of Christ on the cross looks down upon the man.   Note the abandoned crutches laying on the snow.  The man is devoutly looking at the cross, and this is interpreted as the man's blind faith in his Christian beliefs and the security he feels from those personal values.

The first painting portrays a man's aloneness, but the second painting shows the same man in prayer and we know that he has reached the place where he wants to be.  The moods of the two companion paintings are very different.  The snow is the same, but the artist replaced hopelessness with hope.  The figure of Christ is symbolic of that hope.  

Looming on the horizon we see the spires of a grand Gothic church reaching up to the heavens.  The church's silhouette is similar to that of the trees.  We see Nature and the Christian faith in Friedrich's work.

The main focus of my December blogs is the winter season and how artists used winter to paint the beauty of nature, the passage of time and, most importantly, the human experience.  Winter is used in art to symbolize the end of something.....a relationship, a life, or looking forward to the future of spring after a time of personal struggles.   

We are learning that art may be considered a mirror of life.  When we stand before a painting, we don't just see shapes and colors.  Great artists encourage us to view life from various angles and perceptions, showing us the way to compassion and understanding.

WINTER ART

 Often I feel like I live in the minority.....with the way I think about things, feel about things and my responses thereto.  

I love winter, and I don't move away from it.  Rather, I embrace all aspects of the season....from the phenomenon of white flakes falling to the ground, to the snowmen we built, to the snow tunnels of childhood, the holidays, warm and sustaining foods, and most of all, the ambiance of a lit fireplace.  Oh, I know, travel can be a bugger in winter.  In bad weather, we stay put.....retirement affords us the freedom to choose ourselves what to do and what not to do.  To us, retirement is the concept of not having a boss.

With that said, I've decided to focus my blogging from now until the end of the year on how famous artists have presented winter in their works.  We'll venture back to different periods of history, artists and approaches.  As of this moment, I've not searched for today's painting.  Writing my daily posts requires time, and it's my intention to use up hours of my day to expand my mind's perspective.  

SNOW SCENE AT ARGENTEUIL (suburb of Paris) Claude Monet 

The winter of 1874-5 was exceptionally snowy in France, which inspired Claude Monet to paint 18 views of Argenteuil covered in snow.  The painting we'll focus on today is the scene on the boulevard Saint-Denis where he was living.  It shows the boulevard running toward the River Seine, looking away from the railway station.....

In this scene, Monet has devoted large parts of the canvas to blue and grey tones, with smaller strokes of green, yellow, red and darker blues to break up those large parts.  He painted ruts in the snow, leading toward the vanishing point in the center.  This gives a sense of perspective and depth.  Those of us who grew up in the 1950s and 60s remember heavy snowfalls and getting stuck with our cars.  We've studied enough to recognize other interesting elements in the painting, like the people who are out walking and stopping to visit.  The trees on both sides balance the composition.  This painting is considered a classic example of Impressionism......Monet captured the fleeting quality of light and atmosphere in a natural scene as he saw it at the moment.

Why do I love snow and wintertime?  Because I see Nature's unfathomable ability to transform the earth from dark and dreary into a blanket of white.  To me, it's like the old-fashioned magic slate.  Beyond that, the Sun creates sparkle and glitter that quiets a place to a serene sense of wonder and tranquility.  Delicate ice crystals reflect light in a way that can't help but excite our curiosity and need to see beautiful things in this life.  To me, Nature is a therapist, available to us at zero monetary expense.  Winter is the time of year when freezing temperatures pull us indoors with one another.  The only season that affords us "coziness" is winter.  Summer does the opposite.  Nothing remains closer to my soul than the memory of our walks in the woods in the winter, where we trudged through a fresh snowfall to our cabin.  Parkas and snow boots, walking sticks and mittens.  

I've always been drawn to the fluffy feel of fresh snow, kicking snow with my boots as I was the first to make tracks in it.  For me to move away from winter just couldn't happen.  For the two of us, retirement is wonderful because we can stay cozy and safe, while watching the flakes fall, and with heavy winds, build drifts that block major highways and close airports.  It's kinda like the Almighty puts out His hands and puts a stop to human busy-ness.  

There are millions of shoppers packing the stores today, Black Friday.  To me, consumerism separates people from their senses.  And, there are equal arguments in favor of shopping and spending and being stirred into the Black Friday stew.  Are there actually sales?  Or, does this one day magnify the over-pricing and gouging that has become the norm?  The only money saved is the money that isn't spent.  

Tomorrow we'll see how another artist painted winter.  

BEAUTIFUL MABEL

Mabel, our beloved ancestral Christmas Cactus, is blossoming.  Mabel affords me a way to share her with those wishing to start a plant of their own.  It's interesting that she decided to dress up for Thanksgiving.....this is how Nature speaks to us in silence.
 

ROUNDISM

My mind has been invaded by the world of art.  What started out to be a simple understanding of paintings, their essence, their hidden meanings, has blossomed into an unquenchable interest.  The other day I came across another style of art called Roundism.  We just finished learning about Cubism.  

Albert Edward Joseph Morgan (born 1933 in England ) was a commercial artist who later developed the unique style he named Roundism.  He designed advertisements for the confectionary company, Cadbury, and also for local papers.  He gained success designing lapel badges.  Morgan based his style around the idea that nature is entirely based around the circle and rounded shapes.  He once stated that man invented the straight line.

Gathering Nets, Lyme Regis
(a town in England)
by Edward Morgan

Riverside Bewdley 
(a town in Worcestershire, England)
by Morgan

Two Fishermen
by Morgan

This adds another element to our beginner's study of art.  It also gives us pause to notice the round shapes in nature and in the material world.  Art opens our eyes to things around us that we might not take time to notice.  

{Corne Akkers, an artist from the Netherlands, is also credited with the early art theory of Roundism.  He was attracted to painting the female form, often combining Roundism with Cubism.}

BLACK FRIDAY - CYBER MONDAY

Awoke to snow flakes floating in the air.....then melting as they hit the ground.  Tis another overcast day, temperature now is 37 degrees.  

Thanksgiving week is here.  Our commercialized world is putting the focus on Black Friday, which falls on November 29th this year.  Originally, Black Friday was a 1-day event, but has grown to at least 4 days of deals starting on Friday through the weekend until the arrival of Cyber Monday.  That's the day there tends to be better deals online than in stores.  It's an e-commerce term.  Items purchased on Cyber Monday are electronics, toys, computers, clothing, furniture, tv's, appliances and sporting goods. 

It's no wonder the world feels foreign to me.....the little girl raised by parents who lived through the Great Depression.  From little on, I was taught to count and to save my pennies, was told that pennies make dollars, and that a fool and his money are soon parted.  Fast forward to today, and I have zero-tolerance for the shopping chaos that spews forth starting the day after Thanksgiving.  

This is where I show my true self.....with dignity.  Gifts used to be things we needed or wanted but couldn't have.  We had so little that all gifts brought us the ticklish feeling of happiness.  Not today.  Gifting is on overload, nothing is good enough, and nothing is appreciated.  Some years back, gifting stopped in our families.  The focus went more toward getting together and maybe exchanging silly gifts, where we made the gift exchange a silly game.  When I see a shopping cart filled with boxes of toys, appliances  and mothers screaming at their kids in Walmart, well, I just want to go in the bathroom and throw up.  I ain't gonna sugar coat the insanity.

The only gifts I give are homemade by me and/or my boyfriend.  Today's young people consider homemade presents to be Scrooge-like.  So be it.  I can only hope that there will come a day when karma will take over the game of give-and-take.  Corporate greed has hood-winked our society at every turn.  The new world makes me appreciate my childhood even more.  I'd rather give a puppy a bag of treats than give a child a TV or cell phone. 

Our December calendar is looking like it will be a busy month.  I have a return appointment to the surgeon who recently worked on me.  At that time I'll find out if another surgery is necessary.  I'm feeling like it will be, by how things are shaping up.  Then I have a regular 6-month checkup with my regular doctor.  Both of us try our best to be as healthy as we can.  We owe that to ourselves.

Tis just about lunch time.  Spent a good share of the morning working online word games.  Still haven't started reading the book I ordered on eBay.  Maybe this afternoon that can happen.  There oughta be CA meetings (Computers Anonymous) for those of us who spend hours and hours with our fingers dancing on the keyboards.  Sometimes I think how I've worked the souls out of my ten little fingers over the years.  Migod, one thumb joint has been replaced, carpal tunnel repaired, and the other thumb acts up along with the barometer.  My hands and my fingers are among my Thanksgiving blessings that I give almighty thanks for.  I'm old-fashioned.  I give thanks for what really matters rather than wanting more stuff that matters not at all.   

A TIME TO EMBRACE ONE'S PASSIONS

Yesterday we replenished the 'larder.'  That's an old-fashioned word for a cabinet where food is kept.  Before refrigeration, the term described the practice of covering meat in lard (animal fat) to preserve it.  The modern word is 'pantry.'

Our groceries were johnny-on-the-spot ready for pick-up at 12:30, and we both took a trolley downtown.  A stop at the pharmacy replenished my meds for three months.  It's unheard of for us to simply drive from home to our destination and right back home.  Never ever happened in all the years with the boyfriend behind the wheel.  We're still cruising around, checking out neighborhoods, new homes being built, old homes that have provided shelter until they can't withstand the weight of the world.  

(example)

A new housing addition is being developed next to the Venny property.  We're seeing a trend of dark grey to charcoal colored homes being built.  It's definitely a bold departure from the traditional.  One house near us is nearly black, and the owners have chosen an orange-coral color for contrast in the front porch chairs.  Front doors are sometimes painted in contrasting colors, too.  

The exterior of a home is like an artist's canvas.....a way for the owners to make a statement about their sense of style.  The level of maintenance speaks to their pride in ownership.  The color of a home suggests a preference for classic or modernistic.  The front yard of a double-condo down the street from us had a glorious assortment of flowers blossoming most of the summer.  Every time we drove by, I heard myself comment about how pretty they were.  Homeowners have the opportunity to make our world more beautiful without even thinking about it.  One small ornament can decorate someone's world.

Now that the boyfriend and I have transitioned to Venny and retired from work.....not life....we feel we've earned the luxury of watching others mow the lawn, clear snow off the sidewalks, wash the windows, and more.  I enjoy watching the younger generations enter the stage where home-ownership is a financial possibility.  Looking back, we realize now just how much work and money it takes to own and maintain a property.  The last straw for us...when we were selling our house...was the unexpected flooding of the creek that ran through the back of our property.  Migod, the tears I cried thinking the sale would fall through.  But, the young buyer's perspective showed us the shining light of youth and its optimism.  Yup, retirement often gets a bad wrap, but with a positive outlook, it is the chance to enjoy life the way one chooses.  It's that business of perspective.  We can look forward, or we can look backward.  Personally, I'm really tired of the past and rather look ahead to a blank page.  

Tis an overcast Sunday where we live, there's pomegranates waiting to be devoured, and no have-tos.  Some people are depressed on cloudy days, but we look at them as cozy-in days where we can look out the window and let the world go by.  They say life is a story....might as well make it a best-seller.  

ONLINE GROCERY SHOPPING

 Just completed our online grocery shopping, with a pick-up time between 12:30 and 1.  Easy-peasy.  Got one promotional deal.  Pomegranates are $2 each, but if you buy 3 they're $1 each.  Lucky me ordered 6.  Just love 'em, and they're in season.  Saved $6. 

Up early this a.m. cuz I went to bed at 9:30 last night.....totally not the usual me.  Must've worn my brain out watching movies and detective interrogations.  It never ceases to amaze me how people blatantly refuse to tell the truth right down to the last minute.  I've watched enough to recognize the detective's approach to their questioning and how they sometimes leave the room and return, taking a whole different approach.  Many times the second round is more confrontational.  That's the part that's interesting.

Have been playing the online word game Word Hunt on USA Today.  This morning I reached level 1,700.  The game is fun because it starts up where one leaves off.  I've played this on and off for quite some time, and so far I've not been beaten.  What did people our age do before computers?  Sadly, there are those who choose not to touch them.  Like everything else there are negatives to the new online world, but like everything else, a person has to be cautious.  

There's nothing too eventful about our day.  A sweet Saturday to savor.

HOME FROM ART TOUR

Today I resume writing my everyday posts, leaving behind the adventure in art from an interesting time in history.  Oh, one day I shall get another urge to explore the art world and find an artist that represents another era.  Cubism is definitely a world of its own, would you agree?

The end-of-year holidays are getting closer by the day.  Next week we celebrate Thanksgiving.  The older one gets, the more one is appreciative for all things that make life a joyous journey.  In this edition of the Venny newsletter, I listed 90 of the things that I consider most important in my life.  It's a challenge I'd toss out to my readers.  Once I got started, and 90 filled the 2-column page, I could've kept going.  

Yesterday I saw something interesting on Facebook.  The idea was to take a jar, and each time something positive happens during the coming year, write it down on a piece of paper, fold the paper up, and put it in the jar.  At the end of the year, take out each paper and remind oneself of all the good that's happened.  

We aren't exactly in the most grateful time in history.  With generations who feel "entitled," that takes away from the idea of being thankful.  They expect everything, and they're very easily disappointed.  They don't know how to cope with a life that doesn't rain down fun and games onto them.  Boy, that's light years from our era.  To this day, I find myself silently praying 'thank you.'  

Since my last everyday post, we've had our first light snowfall.  We sat here and watched the first flakes slowly float to the ground.  At first, the flakes were countable as they fell, but soon picked up and whitened the ground.  Joy to my world now that I'm able to remain in the audience.  It's that business of making the most of each stage of being alive.  Heaven knows, there's enough craziness going on around us, we might as well find our little happy places.  

We also had a G-clan and what's left of the B-clan over for a birthday pizza party celebrating four birthdays in late October and early November.  A traditional surprise cool whip smear took place, making it another memory for the album. 

Sadly, Dale's Auntie Jane passed away at age 103.  What a lady!  Like I said, the family anchor has been pulled from the waters. 

The boyfriend and I put icicle lights on our deck railing.  Wanted to get that done while the weather was nice.  When darkness sets in, the lights are pretty and add yet another tier of glitter to our home at Venny.  We're not sure how much decorating we'll do for Christmas, but me thinks it will be minimal.  We'll see.

I ordered a book on eBay that I'm itching to get at.  The title is, "The Echo of Old Books" authored by Barbara Davis.  Book titles are important.  I'm greatly intrigued by them, like this one.  It's a 400+ page read, and that's the best kind.  The more pages in a book, the better the book feels in my hands.  Modern Kindles and other technical forms of reading just can't ever replicate the feel of an old-fashioned paper page book.  There are many readers who'll agree.

It's good to be back from our art study.  With a new season opening up, and the holidays presenting their traditions and celebrations, there's always something new to write about.  It's not like we're out gadding about like we used to do, but the little things are so much more meaningful and enjoyable now.  Life is served to us in courses.  One might say that we're now having our dessert.

PICASSO - 4

It's important that we know that smoking and drinking (bottles, glasses, pipes) were long traditions as symbols in painting.  Their images represent mental intoxication and stimulation of the imagination. 

Still Life with a Bottle of Rum - 1911

Picasso painted Still Life with a Bottle of Rum during the summer of 1911 in Ceret, the small town in the French Pyrenees that was popular with poets, musicians and artists--expecially the Cubists--before World War I.  Ceret has been called the "spiritual home of Cubism."

This painting is a series of brown, yellow and black tones arranged in a chaotic geometry.   

One is hard-pressed to see the bottle of rum.  In the upper center of the picture are what seem to be the neck and opening of a bottle.  Spidery black lines to the left of it may denote sheet music, and the round shape lower down, the base of a glass.  In the center, at the far right, is the pointed spout of a Spanish wine bottle.  

Notice how Picasso included letters in this painting.  It's been suggested that the ones shown on the left, LETR refer to LeTorero, the magazine for bullfighting fans (Picasso being one of them) but they might simply be a pun on letter, French for 'word.'  Other critics suggest the letters refer to the town of Ceret.  Picasso was known for his use of letters and words in his work, and for his dyslexia, which may have influenced his work. People with dyslexia silently suffer with reading.  It only makes sense that he would incorporate letters in his work that reflect his personal struggle.

We're going to have to use our wildest imagination here to see Picasso's own face staring out of the canvas at us.  Do you see the eye?  Right above the eye is his well-known hair-style crossing his forehead crossing his forehead. (close-up to right)

Picasso painted a pipe in the right foreground of this painting.  Look for a cone-shaped bowl.  

Woman in a Hat With Flowers - 1944

(painting to left) This is a picture Picasso painted of his mistress and primary model, Dora Maar, from 1935 to 1943.  Notice how he painted her name at the bottom....upper case D, O, cursive r, and uppercase sideways A.

Dora Maar's face is the center of the picture.  Her neck and upper torso are wrapped in a large, white garment.

Her hat sweeps upward from her hairline.  A number of Picasso's characteristic distortions appear in this work:  her mouth and nose are depicted in profile, her nostrils are grossly exaggerated, and her dark eyes are set at different levels.  The red and yellow striped hat, with flowers growing from the top, sets off her face against the green polka dots of the background.

What can Cubism teach us?

• To see a subject from various angles.
• To think boldly and embrace experimentation, push the boundaries of expression.
• To break objects into smaller elements, to see how an artist can express an object's entire visual understanding simultaneously on a flat surface.
• To be detectives....how to piece together fragments and clues to create the vision of an object.  Each person will see the image differently.

Cubism was created to break old ideas about art, changing the vision and meaning of what art can be.  The radical new style challenged how things are seen.  Instead of giving us a single point of view, it gave multiple points of view...making all of the sides of an object visible at the same time.

Cubism was developed partly in response against the tightly controlled styles of painting that had dominated studios for previous generations.  Artists, like Picasso, rejected the idea that art should merely imitate nature or follow traditional techniques like perspective and modeling.  Instead, they emphasized two-dimensions, breaking down objects into geometric forms and rearranging them within a shallow, relief-like space. When a work of art is classified as being 2-dimensional, it means the composition possesses the dimensions of length and width, but does not possess depth.  All 2-dimensional pieces of art (drawings, paintings and prints) are made up of shapes.     

PICASSO - 3

In 1927, Picasso met Marie-Therese Walter, a 17-year-old French schoolgirl, who became his mistress.  No other woman is more intricately woven into the fabric of his art.

Reading at a Table - 1934

In this painting of Marie-Therese Walter, the time is night.  She sits reading at a table in a room illuminated by only a small lamp.  Her left hand gently holds open the pages of her book, while the right hand touches her garland-crowned head with fingers that resemble a feather.  Her pale blonde hair and blue-white skin give her a fragile presence within the dark and deeply colored interior.  Take note of the brush strokes Picasso used to paint her face and make her stand out from everything else.

The legs of the table are vertical, representing strength, height, pride and dignity.  In this case, the height of the table legs could be used to show Marie-Therese's height and youth because her arms barely reach the table like a child was sitting at the table.  Horizontal lines can be seen under her arm at the table, and also through her arms, moving the viewer's eye from object to object, representing femininity.  Diagonal lines represent action, forcefulness and strength.  A diagonal line can be seen on the right top corner of the painting, which portrays the action in the room.

The girl's head in Picasso's painting is larger than everything else in the painting.  This grabs the viewer's eye and forces us to focus more on her.  The plant is also modified to be almost as tall as she is.  It is understandable why Picasso was portraying Marie-Therese's youth over and over in this painting, considering she was only 17 years old when they met and he was 45.  At the time of this painting, she was 25.

The depiction of a woman simply reading adds a sense of quiet contemplation, which appeals to many of us.  The theme of a painting is the message or idea that the artist wishes to convey through their work, or the message received by the viewer when observing it. 

Our simple study of art here has shown us that there's a deeper meaning to art.....the feelings, thoughts and ideas that are communicated to us through the work.  Art has many purposes which can make it seem daunting to some, while others enjoy its complexities.  Every person interprets art differently, making it unique for each individual viewer.   The ability to express our ideas, emotions and thoughts is the core function of creativity.  Self-expression is important and sometimes just saying how we feel is difficult.  Art can be a universal language that transcends words and language barriers.   

PICASSO - 2

Le Picador (The Bullfighter)

Pablo Picasso finished his first painting, Le picador, a man riding a horse in a bullfight (right) when he was eight years old.  As a young boy, he disliked being told what to do and was often put into detention.  "For being a bad student, I was banished to the 'calaboose' - a bare cell with whitewashed walls and a bench to sit on.  I liked it there, because I took along a sketch pad and drew incessantly...I could have stayed there forever drawing without stopping." 

Picasso's iconic shirt is a Breton-striped shirt, which in 1858 became the official uniform for French seamen in Brittany.  Picasso was also a leader in fashion.  His Breton striped t-shirt was designed by Coco Chanel.  The 21 horizontal stripes represent each of Napoleon's victories. 

Cubism is considered to be the first true abstract art style.  Initially, Cubism was considered scandalous, because it didn't objectively replicate reality.  Instead, it transformed natural shapes into exaggerated geometric ones.  One of the first critics of this art style said that it looked like it was made up of cubes.  This is what led to the label Cubism.

The cubist painters used very few colors, because they wanted the viewer to concentrate on the shapes.  They often used only shades of black, brown, cream, green, blue and grey.

Girl with Mandolin - 1910

In Girl with Mandolin, Picasso carried fragmentation of form to almost unrecognizable lengths.  Only the mandolin is easy to identify.  Both the outlines of the figure and its internal drawing have been broken down into geometrical elements.  The coloring is dominated by brown tones paling to beige with blue-grey tones.

The model for this picture is a naked female holding a mandolin.  The viewer can only see the top part of her body, from thighs to head.  The head is turned to the left, which is the viewer's right.  We see a profile view of the lady's face as she looks down at her mandolin slightly, which she is holding across the front of her body, apparently playing it.  Note that there isn't a single bright color that stands out. 

Picasso breaks down the picture into numerous rectangles, cubes, squares and other geometric shapes.  He then arranged these different shapes to reveal various parts of her anatomy that would not have been possible to see in a single moment of time and from a single point in space.  In other words, it shows multiple points of view in the same painting simultaneously.  

Three Musicians

Picasso paints three musicians made of flat, brightly colored, abstract shapes in a shallow box-like room.  The figures represent Picasso and two of his poet friends.  Guillaume Apollinaire who died three years earlier, and Max Jacob who had joined a monastery earlier that year. Picasso is the figure wearing the bright diamond patterned suit in the center.  The white figure on the left is Apollinaire, and the dark figure of a monk on the right represents Max Jacob.  The figure on the left plays the clarinet (cone-shaped head), the figure in the middle (dome shaped head) plays the guitar, and the monk on the right (slanted shaped head) holds sheets of music as he sings. 

There's a fourth figure in the painting.  One has to really look hard and long to see the brown dog stretched out onto its stomach with its legs facing the left side of the canvas.  The dog's back leg touches the white pant leg of the clarinetist.  Note the black silhouette of a dog's head with two pointy ears.  This could either be the shadow of the first dog or another dog in the background.  If I hadn't read the analysis of this painting, there's no way I'd ever have noticed the dog(s).  How 'bout you?

Personally, this is not a style of art that appeals to me.  However, this is a learning adventure, so we will continue to find out more about the style of the paintings and their artist, Pablo Picasso.

I'll close today's post with a bit of Picasso trivia:  While Picasso is best known by his last name, his full name is 25 names long.  At his baptism, he was christened as Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Crispin Crispiniano Maria de Los Remedios de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz Picasso.  His long name is a mixture of relatives' and saints' names.  Ruiz was his father's surname, Picasso his mother's.  

Pablo's family was best known as glovemakers.  It was not the occupation a revolutionary artist wanted to be associated with, so he took matters into his own hands.  He changed his last name to his mother's maiden name, Picasso.  

CUBISM - PICASSO - 1

Pablo Picasso

Now that we're introduced to Impressionism, let's learn about Cubism.  Spanish painter Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was a founder of the Cubist movement.

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
(The Young Women of Avignon)

The most famous example of Cubism painting is Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (left).  In this painting, he abandoned all known form and representation of traditional art.  Instead, he used distortion of female bodies and geometric forms in a unique way.  It shows how Picasso was influenced by African art.

This painting took him nine months to complete.  It shows the novelty of Picasso's passion.  He created hundreds of sketches to prepare for the final work. 

When it was first  exhibited in 1916, the painting was considered immoral. The title refers to the red-light district of Avignon Street in Barcelona, Spain, where Picasso frequented prostitutes.  The painting depicts five nude or nearly nude prostitutes in a confrontational pose, staring directly at the viewer. 

The painting combines different styles and breaks down traditional forms.  The female bodies are depicted with angular planes and geometric shapes, and their faces are inspired by African masks and Iberian sculpture.  It's an example of how Picasso questioned and transformed accepted art traditions.  He rejected the concept that art should copy nature, or that artists should adopt the traditional techniques of perspective and modeling. 

The painting is brutally honest with the viewer and doesn't attempt to cover up the gruesome realities of life.  Instead of shaping these women into ideal figures of conditioned beauty, Picasso challenges viewers to find the beauty in what is in front of them.  Women do not all look one certain way, and every one is uniquely beautiful in their own way.  Whether we see these women as beautiful or not, the point is that Picasso has brought raw reality to light in this painting.

Adding to the rawness, Picasso chooses a risky topic.  Prostitution is not something that is made to be seen as artistic, and Picasso decided to use prostitutes as his focus here.  Through Cubism, he brought a different approach to depicting the human body in art.  Often in early art, women were portrayed as delicate symbols of beauty or temptation, but these women are shown in a rough, distorted element and their feminine features are made to be more masculine.

This painting measures 96 inches x 92 inches and is valued at 1.2 billion dollars.  It is located at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

RENOIR - 7

Two Sisters (On the Terrace) - 1880-81

In this painting, Renoir depicts the radiance of two lovely females, one in her late teenage years and the other a child, on a warm and beautiful day.  The older girl gazes beyond her younger companion, who seems to have just dashed into the picture.  The sewing basket in the left foreground suggests a palette of bright colors that the artist mixed, diluted and altered to create the painting.  Although the girls were not actually sisters, Renoir's dealer showed the work with this title at an Impressionist exhibition in 1882.

The terrace railing is directly behind them.  The horizontal line of the railing moves the figures further into the foreground, placing emphasis on them as the focal point.  Over the terrace railing we see shrubbery and foliage with the Seine River behind it.   The little girl is holding onto the edge of a basket filled with different colors of woolen balls, which is on a small table.  There is a brilliance of colors in this painting. 

Notice some boats along the river painted between the gaps of the branches. 

There are three points of focus in "Two Sisters."  The first is the sharp red color of the older lady's hat.  The second focus is the hat of the younger girl depicted with colorful flowers.   The third point is the basket of woolen balls of yarn. The painting presents the beauty of spring and youth.  The two sisters were in the springtime of their lives.  The bright colors enable us to appreciate a harmonious environment. 

Did you wonder why Renoir painted the basket of woolen yarn in this picture?  It does seem out of place.  It was suggested that Renoir placed the yarn there in response to a critic who compared his painting to knitting and described one of his artworks as "a weak sketch seemingly executed in wool of different colors."  While this may be true, there may be other reasons why Renoir placed the yarn in this painting.  No one really knows what Renoir was thinking at that time. 

This painting is located in the Art Institute of Chicago.  Two Sisters is a timeless work honoring the beauty of human connection and the simple pleasures of life.  It is a beloved work of art that captivates audiences worldwide.

RENOIR - 6

A Girl With a Watering Can - 1876

This painting, set in a garden, presents a little girl holding a watering can in her right hand and two daisies in her left hand.  She has bright blue eyes and rosy lips, is about four years old, wearing a knee-length royal blue dress with wide, intricate, lacy white trim, and blue ankle boots and white socks.  Her long, curly blonde hair is topped with a bright red ribbon.  In the left foreground are flowering bushes, and Renoir has filled in the middle ground with an indistinct patch of grass, as more flowering bushes rise in the background at the top of the painting.  The colors of the footpath contrast nicely with the green grass surrounding it.  She appears to be happy while watering the flowers.  Note that there are no shadows anywhere in the painting.  

At the time of this painting, Renoir struggled for money.  To earn money, he decided to paint scenes of women and children, hoping they would sell and possibly attract commissions for portraits.  This type of scene was in high demand in France at the time.  His strategy paid off.  By 1879, he had become a successful painter with money that he used to travel around Europe and North Africa. 

A Girl With a Watering Can is located in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Lucie Berard (Child in White) - 1883

Renoir's patron, Paul-Antoine Berard, commissioned him to paint portraits of his four children.  Here, Renoir portrays the youngest, Lucie, as the picture of innocence at three years old.  Her small hands are positioned by her sides.  Notice the two rows of vertical buttons and the wide lacey yoke of her dress.  The picture lacks accessories, like toys and books, found in other of Renoir's portraits of children.  Her white dress and subtle smile reflect a fleeting moment of youth.

The painting of Lucie is located in the Art Institute of Chicago.    

RENOIR - 5

Today we appreciate Renoir's two other paintings in his dancing series...... 

Dancing in the Country - 1883

The couple is dancing under a chestnut tree.  The man is Renoir's friend, and the woman later becomes Renoir's wife.  The couple is painted life-size and occupies almost the whole painting.  

Notice the table in the background on the right, the hat on the ground and a pair of faces below the level of the dance floor.  See how he incorporates a dish of ice cream and the half-full glass.  The woman holds a fan in her right hand and faces the viewer. Does Renoir paint her holding a fan in one hand as if it were a symbol of her independence?   She doesn't take off her gloves, which portrays a barrier between her and her partner.  Renoir painted her with a full smile, depicting a very happy woman with a mouth curving upward in a pleasing smile.  The couple has just finished dinner, rising from their chairs spontaneously to dance to a familiar song, and their spontaneity is shown by the hat dropped in the foreground.  It appears that both dancers are lost in their own thoughts.  This painting is both romantic and energetic.  Don't you just love how Renoir painted the lady's dress?

The lady in this painting would become his future wife.  She was a seamstress, a working class girl.  Some years later, Renoir revealed to his son that his mother was a wonderful dancer:  "Your mother waltzed divinely.  I'm afraid I stepped all over her feet." 

Let's move on to Dance in the City, the third in Renoir's series of Dancers....

Dancing in the City - 1883

Dancing in the Country and Dancing in the City were designed to contrast with each other. The country depicts the merriment of a country dance, and the city depicts the elegant restraint of city dancers.  The setting of Dancing in the City is a high class Parisian establishment, for this is a "white ball," favored by the upper classes.  The painting is all about the woman, as the man is almost hidden from our view.  

There's a shimmering opulence to this scene.   The cut of the woman's dress reveals her back and shoulders.  Her partner is wearing formal evening wear and the tails of his long coat swish with the movement of the dance.  Both the man and woman wear white gloves, which makes the dance a more formal event, making sure that the man's bare hands do not touch the delicate skin of the lady.  Compare the clasp of hands to the couple in the Dance at Bougival that we studied yesterday.  This latter picture shows the couple with the lightest coupling of hands.  The lady's dress is made of white satin or silk taffeta, with lace, organza or chiffon trim around the neck and shoulders. The classical draping and lack of gaudy ornamentation bring out the lady's youthful glow.  Her styled hair is graced with a flower.

We must remember that outdoor dancing is much wilder than its ballroom counterpart.  In the country, men don't have to put on gloves.  The plants, trees and feelings are real.  The ballroom type, with its white columns, potted plants, controlled steps and orchestrated music, pales in comparison.     

Dance at Bougival (left) is located in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Dance in in the City (center) is located in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

Dance in the Country (right) is located in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

RENOIR - 4

Dance at Bougival - 1883

In this painting, Renoir captured the spirit of his friends dancing at an open-air Cafe in the town of Bougival (boo-zjee-val), located a short distance from Paris.  It was a popular spot for city people and a favorite painting location for the Impressionist artists.  Renoir includes touches of reality with discarded cigarettes, burnt matches and flowers on the ground to elevate the atmosphere of the cafe.  Notice their flushed cheeks that signal their passion and excitement.  I can't help but wonder what each of them are thinking.  Let's each take time to practice our skills of observation we've learned so far.  See how Renoir masterfully paints hands and the lady's beautiful face.

The painting has fine color, with the woman wearing a pink dress and red bonnet, the man wearing a deep blue suit, yellow hat, and his shoes are especially eye-catching.  Notice how his shoes match the sash around the lady's waist.  Her dress portrays movement as the man leads the lady in playful dance.  I especially like the flowing layers of the skirt and how the rows of red trim bring the eye upward.  The act of dancing is linked with rhythm and transforming time into motion.  One of the most basic motives of dance is the expression of emotion.  People often dance as a way of releasing powerful human feelings.  A slow dance might stir up heartfelt emotions, while fast and wide movements portray energy and excitement.

To give us some idea of the work that went into this painting, here is a preliminary sketch Renoir made of the couple dancing.....

Sketch of Dance at Bougival - 1883

Dance at Bougival is part of a collection of three paintings that feature a couple who are dancing.  The other two paintings are titled Dance in the Country and Dance in the City.  We'll learn about them tomorrow.

RENOIR - 3

The Umbrellas - 1880s

In this picture, about a dozen open umbrellas suggest that it is raining.  Note the lady in the center is lowering or opening her umbrella, indicating that the rain has either stopped or is about to begin.  The lady on the left and the child to the right both look directly at the viewer.  The man stares intently at the lady, perhaps about to offer her the shelter of his umbrella, or maybe he's just admiring her.  The female figure to the left of the frame holds up her skirt against the mud and water on the road as she carries a bandbox.

The angles of the umbrellas are carefully arranged to form geometric shapes, with the bandbox and the girl's hoop adding rounded elements.  The colors are mainly blues and greys.  Umbrellas in art are often interpreted as metaphors for protection and shelter from the struggles and hardships of life.  Take note that the lady carrying the bandbox is not wearing anything on her head and is without gloves.  These are indicators of low status.  The bandbox denotes the sort of low paid job taken by country girls who came to the city.  

In the lower right corner, Renoir presents two doll-like youngsters.  He united them through their color and the lacy embellishments of their clothing.  In this portion of the canvas, Renoir has reserved small delights for the eye and his richest color.

The Umbrellas is at The National Gallery in London.  Its presence allows art enthusiasts from around the world to appreciate Renoir's genius.

RENOIR - 2

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's paintings, as we will see, were of friends, family, landscapes and scenes from the parks and gardens of Paris.  Let's look for the way he used bold combinations of pure complementary colors to capture light, shadow and movement.  Renoir once said, "Why shouldn't art be pretty?  There are enough unpleasant things in the world."

The son of a tailor and a seamstress, Renoir had a talent for decorative effect that brought him to the attention of a number of wealthy patrons for whom he painted picture hangings and decorations for ladies' fans and other luxury objects.  These early successes fed his desire to leave the ceramic factory and pursue fine art painting.

I am not familiar with Renoir's works, so my aim is to showcase a few of his 4,000 paintings.  One of the things about art, as I'm learning, is the way color is used to create the atmosphere of the moment.  Blue is the main character in this painting.

La Balancoire - The Swing - 1876

If we look closely, we see a young man from the back talking to a young lady standing on a swing, watched by a little girl and another man who is leaning against the trunk of the tree.  Renoir gives us the impression of a surprising conversation, he catches the glances toward the man seen from the back.  The lady is looking away as if she's embarrassed.  The group of four in the foreground is balanced by the group of five figures sketchily brushed in the background.

Renoir catches the effect of sunlight dappled by foliage and the patches of pale color on the clothing and the ground.  The lady's dress with blue bows and hat adds charm to the painting.  The bows caught my attention first.  The blue bows on the dress seem to replicate butterflies flying about white puffy clouds.  The little girl waits her turn on the swing, but she might have to wait a while!

From 1860-1870, ladies fashions had become accessible to the public for the first time.  Beautiful dresses were not just for the rich and the royal, but were affordable to the working class, as well.  I'm finding art to be a fascinating teacher of social history.

PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR - 1

Today we're going to tip the canoe and fall into the colorful waters of French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (ren-waar).   He was another leader in the development of Impressionism (1841-1919).

 In the summer of 1869, Renoir painted for two months alongside Monet outside Paris.  In the mid-1870s Renoir painted Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette, his most important work shown at the Impressionist exhibition in 1877.  His aim  was to convey the lively atmosphere of this popular outdoor dance garden in Paris.  

Dance at the Moulin de la Galette - 1876

These open-air dances were held every Sunday, starting in the early afternoon and carrying on until midnight.  Working-class Parisians dressed up and spent time dancing, drinking and eating galettes (guh-let) into the evening.  A galette is a French pastry similar to a tart or pie.  The edges of the galette are folded over the center filling, leaving a wide opening from which the filling can be seen.  

The framing of the scene, in which the figures at the sides are cut off, gives the impression that it continues beyond its boundary, thus presenting a slice of reality.  Note how he captured the mottled effects caused by the light filtering through the trees.  We can see this especially on the back of the man in the foreground and of the dress of the woman seated next to him.  Also, the couple dancing on the left marked by spots of light fragmented into areas of pink and blue.

Renoir was known for creating joyful paintings...snapshots of real life.  Dance scenes were among his favorites, as they were filled with people enjoying themselves.  The Moulin de la Galette was one Cafe that Renoir frequently visited, as it was close to his home and it provided an ideal theme for his work.

While Renoir and Monet worked together, they discovered that shadows are not brown or black, but are colored by the objects around them.  The 'local color' of objects is modified by the light and reflections of surrounding objects. 

In this picture, Renoir bathes the figures in both sun and shadow and spots of natural and artificial light.  The sunlight contrasts well with the dark clothing, and the bright brushstrokes add movement to the painting.  

We are learning that Monet and Renoir were both masters of Impressionism, but it's important we learn how their paintings differed.

1.  Monet painted mostly landscapes, while Renoir often painted people in outdoor landscapes.

2.  Renoir adopted a closer viewpoint to emphasize the figures in his paintings.

3.  Monet used broad, disjointed brushstrokes, while Renoir used more refined, clearer brushstrokes.

4.  Renoir experimented with indistinct wiggling strokes called teaches (tash), French for spots, to create subtle coloration.

Renoir was only 13 years of age when he started an apprenticeship at a workshop painting decorations on porcelain cups and plates.  During these years, he learned a lot about colors and drawing. 

During the late 1860s, Renoir and Monet painted lovely scenes from the rural area of Argenteuil, a suburb of Paris.  They'd paint the same scene, but from slightly different angles.  One example of this is the painting of The Frog Pond.  Both artists created paintings that allow us to see the subtle differences in technique.  The two of them spent a lot of time at the frog pond, working side by side on their own canvases.

   

The Frog Pond
Claude Monet 

The Frog Pond
Pierre-Auguste Renoir  

CLAUDE MONET - 7

The Manneporte (Etretat) - 1883

Monet found subjects to paint in his immediate surroundings, the places he knew best.  The Manneport, a huge natural arch jutting out into the sea, commanded Monet's attention during his stay on the English Channel Coast.  Etretat was a small fishing village on the Normandy coast.  Ordinary people were attracted to the rock because of its natural shape.  Monet, however, concentrated on his own changing perception of it at different times of the day.  

From this view, Monet positioned his easel facing west to take advantage of the low illumination of the setting sun.  His thick brush strokes describe for us the motion of the choppy waters.  Monet painted the Manneporte multiple times.

 We learn from Claude Monet that things are not always what they seem.  The human eye can be tricked and deceived.  A busy street in the morning will look like another street altogether when evening comes.  Monet created many paintings of the same subject observed under different weather conditions, different seasons, and different times of the day.  He held a fascination for the transitory effects of natural light.  It was his goal to immortalize fleeting moments.  Nature was his main source of inspiration.

One thing about Nature......it provides us all with a continuous cycle of changing inspiration and perception.  Art is like a universal language that helps us understand and appreciate the world around us in a richer way.

CLAUDE MONET - 6

The Four Trees - 1891

During the summer and fall seasons of 1891, Monet painted a series of poplar trees along the Epte River, at Giverny.  His completing the series was temporarily threatened when the village of Limetz, across the river from Epte, decided to sell the trees at auction.  Monet paid a local lumber merchant to ensure that the trees stayed standing until he finished the series.  He painted some of the pictures from the riverbank, and others (like this one) from a boat specially made with grooves to hold multiple canvases.  Monet painted a total of 24 pictures of the poplar trees from his floating studio.

In this series of paintings, he returned to the same place over the course of a year to capture different times of the day and seasons.  The poplar tree symbolizes the connection between heaven and earth, and the balance between spirituality and practicality.  "The leaves of the poplar trees rustle in the wind, creating a living orchestra of sounds that invites people to immerse themselves in the flow of life."  

It must also be noted that since the time of the French Revolution of 1789, the poplar was considered The Tree of Liberty for the French.  Following the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), this symbolism was revived.  By painting poplar trees, Monet was celebrating his nation's independence as much as its beautiful ever-changing landscape....

Other paintings in this series

"What I'll do here will at least have the merit of not resembling anyone else,

because it will be the impression of what I've felt,

all by myself."

~Claude Monet~

Monet's paintings teach us about light and color, and his paintings capture a fleeting moment in nature.  Light and color keep changing throughout the day and with the different weather conditions.  He said that he wanted to paint directly from nature and sought to convey his impressions of nature's temporary effects.

CLAUDE MONET - 5

 In 1893, Claude Monet, a horticulture enthusiast, purchased land with a pond near his property in Giverny, about 50 miles northwest of Paris, in the Normandy area.  He wanted to build something that was pleasing to the eye.  The result was his famous water-lily garden.  In the summer of 1899, he started painting a series of eighteen views of the wooden footbridge over the pond, completing twelve works.  

The Japanese Footbridge and the Water Lily Pool - 1899

The color green occupies a great part of this painting.  Trees, grass and lily pads dominate the scene, conveying the message about the strength of natural life.  The Japanese bridge is downplayed by blending into the environment.  Monet prevents the bridge from appearing abrupt to the viewer.  

The garden tells Monet's story and his love for the natural elements in the Asian cultures.  Monet turned his pond into a water garden that contained Asian-influenced objects.  It was in 1895 that he added a Japanese-styled wooden bridge to his water garden.  There were many highly decorative designs in Japanese architecture that he could have chosen, but he picked the most straightforward kind.  Its simplicity embodies the spiritual aspect of Japanese philosophy that stresses the unity between humans and nature.

Technology keeps updating our lives.  The painting shows the exact opposite.  It teaches us that we still need to interact with the outside world despite the astonishing technological achievements.  Taking a walk in nature can bring us some relief from being confined in a concrete box all day.  Monet promotes our co-existence with the environment in this painting.  Notice how the pink and white lilies introduce warm color into the painting.

Monet's positioning of the bridge opens up another interpretation of the human role in the natural world.  The bridge in the middle, representing a connection made by humans, merges the separated trees and lilies visually in the painting, signifying that a noninvasive human creation can sustain the well-being of the environment and become a balancing force that promotes harmony between them.

The bridge spans the pond.  Notice how the four vertical bars create a rhythm that contrasts with the water lilies' horizontal expansion.  Monet said of this painting, "The water flowers are far from being the whole scene; really, they are just the accompaniment.  The essence of the motif is the mirror of water whose appearance alters at every moment."

 
In my research, I found several really neat things that Monet said.  As part of a study of his works, it's only right that we know what he was thinking......

"Water Lilies are an extension of my life.  Without the water, lilies cannot live, as I am without art."

"One instant, one aspect of nature contains it all."

"Eventually, my eyes were opened, and I really understood nature.  I learned to love at the same time."

"Every day I discover more and more beautiful things.  It's enough to drive one mad.  I have such a desire to do everything, my head is bursting with it."

"Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love."

"What keeps my heart awake is colorful silence."

"I think we can change everything all the time.  Accidents are the best things in existence.  They force you to leave a route that seemed to be mapped out...It's often when things aren't going well that we are forced into doing them differently and they suddenly become interesting."