Paintings with Biographies

Sargent, Daughters of Edward Boit,

Tyler Green’s blogs are always fun to read! In one of his recent blog post he talked about painting’s biographies! And that got me thinking! There are some paintings that intrigue you and makes you come back to them again and again!And you want to know about their “life”! When you think about these paintings, you always wonder who the people in the painting were…. What were their relationships with the artist, what were their lives like….!

 One such painting is The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit at Boston MFA. Whenever I visit the  MFA, I stand  in front of this painting and wonder about these grave little girls. What was the story of their lives? Why do they look like they have a secret to keep? It was really interesting when Tyler Green wrote about the new book published by the MFA called, Sargent’s Daughters: The Biography of a Painting. The book talks about Sargent and the Boit family and interweaves their stories with the atmosphere of the American Expatriate community. The book also follows the painting's journey from the Boit family collection to the MFA collection. In other words the book tells the “biography” of the painting from its inception to its final resting place.

Below are some of the paintings that can have amazing biographies written about them! These are some of my all time favorite paintings!

Velazquez, La Meninas

The first on my list is La Meninas. It has host of characters and intriguing placement of figures and the general air of mystery! Think about all the characters and that looming figure of the artist himself! This biography can ran for 500 pages, at least! I would call the book, “The Ghosts in the Mirror”!

Manet, Bar at Folies-Bergere

Another painting that has always captured my imagination is The Bar at Folies-Bergere, by Manet! Again there is that puzzle about the mirror! But I wonder about the girl…. Who was she? What was her story? How did she meet Manet? What was he thinking when he made the painting? Oh, the things we can find out if these paintings could talk! I would call the Biography, “Puzzling Reflections”

Rembrandt, The Night Watch

The third painting on my list is The Night Watch by Rembrandt.The possibilities!! Who are these people? Why are there women in the painting, which is essentially about men with arms? What was Rembrandt’s relationship with the patron/s? We do know that, this was one of his last major commissions. After this painting, he lost much of his patronage and declined into poverty! Coincidence? I will call the biography, “The Night Watchers and Rembrandt’s Fall”.

So these are my three choices for today! I would love to hear about your choices!

Words to Show the Way

Every New Year I set goals, like almost everyone else...... And like most I never fulfill these! The goals get lost in the daily hubbub of life. Even though most of the time I remember the gist of the goals, I forget the majority of them.... This year reading a couple of other blogs, notably Lisa Call and Cynthia Morris, I decided to go with the word of the year rather than long list of goals! A word can be like a little nugget that we can hold in our hands and every time we remember that word we can get a renewed sense of purpose! So I choose STRUCTURE as the word of the year 2010! I think what I need most in my life at this time is a solid structure to take me to the next level! I need a structure to make my financial goals more attainable (make a living solely out of art) and more importantly find more outlets to share my artworks with others. Every time I see myself slipping I need to hold on to this word to show me the way!

Antique Head, Ishita Bandyo (Copy From Cast)

Oh,one  more word that I need to keep close to my heart is "Patience". I sorely need it in terms of being in a marathon race of an art career as well as being a mom. Anyhow, I thought I will add my drawing for this week as well!

The Last Stand

Antique Torso, Charcoal

Fly Me to the Moon, Mixed Media Collage

My plan for 2010 was to finish at least 50 paintings! I did about 38, a mixture of good , bad and ugly! But fell short of my goal. For last couple of days I have been scampering to get a few pieces done! I know, creativity cannot be measured in numbers but if I did not give myself deadlines, I doubt, I would do much! Amidst procrastinations and sleeping sickness, I did manage to complete two paintings, albeit small ones and a drawing. At least that drags me into the 40s! I am still hoping to do a small drawing tomorrow but considering my little girl is likely to stay home, it seems unlikely! Ah well, here are the fruits of my efforts!
Adieu!

Cave Art Masterpieces

What makes something a masterpiece? Is it the mystique involved with the art and the artist? Is it technique and finesse of execution or is it the ability to fascinate the observer? In my take, the so called masterpieces are arts that somehow touches the human soul and can engage human curiosity through ages! Monalisa by daVinci, the Sistine Chapel frescoes by Michelangelo, the Sunflowers by Vangogh, all has that same quality. They fascinates the viewer. The story behind the artwork and the artists who created them adds to the endurance of these pieces. If that is the case then I think some of the cave arts  should be called masterpieces as well. Some of the drawings discovered in the dark crevices at Chauvet, France, are nothing short of amazing pieces of artworks!
 I am not a anthropologist or a paleontologist, an archeologist or even a  an expert on cave arts! I am an artist who understands good art when I see one. And the amazing drawings at  Chauvet are some of the best drawings I have seen. I am not going to venture into the discussion why they were made! Were they shamanic or graffiti by teenage boys (they found adolescent foot prints in front of some of the drawings) or done by bored cave housewives! I doubt if all the scholars writing academic papers have any clear ideas themselves. They conjunct but there are always detractors who propose an alternative theory!

Horses, Chauvet Cave, France

Chauvet Cave Drawings, France

Rhinos, Chauvet Cave, France

Rhino, Chauvet Cave, France

 When Picasso saw the cave drawings in Lascaux, he exclaimed,“They’ve invented everything.” I feel the same way when I looked at the amazing Chauvet  drawings. Since they don't let people in the caves, my seeing them first hand doesn't seem likely but even the reproductions seem to writhe with life. If we look at the rendition of the horses, they were done with exquisite strokes, with sure hands! They have used shading as well as the lines with varying degrees of thickness to indicate volume......The way they have overlapped the figures of the horses or the rhinos and bisons, seem to show them in motion.I find them almost like animations The sense of motion is so palpable. If we listened carefully we can almost hear the thundering of the hooves! How many times in the life drawing classes we had to adjust the limbs of the model when they shifted position? Some of the drawings at Chauvet seems to be doing just that. The overlapping figures of the canine figures seem to indicate they were trying to capture their movement. It might be that these are symbolic paintings but the way they are rendered makes me think, whoever was in charge of making these drawings over the thousands of years, actually enjoyed doing them. They observed and took pains to draw the animals with precision! Heck, some of these drawings are better than many of my student drawings! I am just frustrated that I won't be able to see them first hand! Maybe when they find a system to control the climate down there, they might allow spectators in! Until then lets enjoy this simulated visit to the shrines of the oldest painters: http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/chauvet/en/

New Year in Jersalem:NOT

 

 

Heroic Symbol, Photograph, Anslem Kiefer

I am not an expert on Anslem Kiefer. I know about him as much as the next person who is involved in the art world! Art critics have written about Anslem’s art ad nauseum! And the incident at the Gagosian has been covered by every one of the major publications, including NY Times. So why do I need to write about this? I frankly don't but since like everyone else, I have an opinion about everything, I thought I might as well air them!

Peaceful Activists at the Gagosian Gallery

Kiefer's art has always struck me as sensationalist at best. Born at the end of WWII, he portrays himself as being the bastard offspring of the Third Reich, with strong identity issues. I have still not been able to decide whether he was actually commenting on the Nazi culture by donning the  Nazi uniform and doing a Hitler salute or was that just a twenty something artists’ way to get attention (this was in the ‘60s)! According to the artist, these self portraits were his attempts to make his countrymen confront their shameful past. Whatever his motives, he comes back again and again to the same subject matter. 

The newest exhibition “New Year in Jerusalem" at the Gagosian gallery, NY, explores the same theme of devastation unleashed by the absolute State. Ironically, the events that unfolded at the  Gagosian, made the theme of the show a mockery! On December 18^th, the closing day of the show, the gallery workers decides to mix things up by unleashing the NYPD on a few unsuspecting activists. These anti-war activists were not doing anything other than donning black t-shirts with “New Year in Jerusalem” written on them in English, Hebrew and Arabic. They were going round looking at the art or conversing with people who approached them with questions, nothing to disturb the peace in the gallery. The NYPD gleefully shoved and manhandled the activists and an officer eventually ended up hurting a German woman who was not even one of the activists! This incident would not have been so disturbing if it did not come right after the incident at the Smithsonian, where recently a silent activist was thrown out for showing the video Fire in My Belly on his Ipad.

The two incidents are quite different from each other in scope but are they that different when it comes to our right to expression and peaceful assembly? I would understand completely if the Gagosian wanted the activists out, were they making trouble for the other gallery goers. But it seems to me that the gallery does not know the meaning of peaceful assembly. Apparently the activists were told that  they were causing trouble in a place of business. But looking at art and making a commentary(they were silent!) on them does not seem like disrupting someone’s business! Maybe I don’t understand what is going on in the larger art world, where museums and galleries feel they need to put up a show of power!

I really want to make sense of what is happening in the art world!

Hide/Seek- An update

The controversy is still raging regrading the Hide/Seek exhibition at the Smithsonian. I am not getting into the the whole thing today, but just wanted to share this with you. AA Bronson, an artist and the director of the Institute of Art, Religion and Social Justice, has requested the National Portrait Gallery to pull out his work (“Felix, June 5, 1994″ ) that was on the Hide/Seek exhibit. Bronson posted the following on this facebook status, "I wrote to the National Portrait Gallery this evening requesting that they remove my work “Felix, June 5, 1994″ from the “Hide/Seek” exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. As an artist who saw first hand the tremendous agony and pain that so many of my generation lived through, and died with, I cannot take the decision of the Smithsonian lightly. To edit queer history in this way is hurtful and disrespectful."

I think it is noble and courageous on part of Bronson to be doing this! Who knows what the fallout is going to be on his career?1 But I love the fact that he felt strongly enough to be able to take this decision! I wonder if I would have been able to be so strong? 

2010 - An Odyssey

2010 has been an incredible year! I missed being Times "Woman of the Year", but I have come a long way! At the beginning of this year I was still suffering from identity crisis. I did not know how to answer when someone asked what I did for a living ..... Should I say I am a relapsed artist and a stay at home mom? Or that I am on a sabbatical? Or should I just plain say, I have no idea.  After graduating from art college in 2007, and having a baby in 2008, I could not say with confidence that I am a "professional" artist! I still had that student mentality and felt odd calling myself an artist! And I did not want to define my existence around my child. For some reason I dreaded the "stay at home mom" badge!

At the beginning of 2010, I have had enough and had to shake of the apathy that had completely taken control of my mind..... I started reading about art and artists and visited museums and galleries with a screaming baby strapped to my chest! The more art I saw, the more motivated I became. I started painting everyday, between my daughters naps and after my husband came home. I hired a nanny to stay with my daughter for few hours a day, so I could paint. Now at the end of 2010, I know I had done the right thing. I have to be happy for my daughter to be happy. No one wants a grumpy mom! Alyson Stanfield, in one of her blog posts posed the question about what we had  achieved this year and I can say that I have achieved a lot more than I thought I will at the start of 2010.

The most important thing that I am doing is painting everyday! I have set studio hour and I stick to it! I have a couple of galleries showing my works....I am also a part owner of a gallery! I could not even imagine at the beginning of the year that I will actually own a business! I barely had any idea what a blog was, for that matter! I thought you have to be really "cool" to actually have a blog! What can I possibly say in a blog? As it turns out, a lot! I even have a facebook fan page! I did not know much about facebook, let alone a facebook fan page! I have made so many friends this year that it really blows me away! And many of these people , I have never even met in life! All and all, I don't feel completely discontent with this year..... I have a long way to go before my aspirations are fulfilled but at least I am moving in the right direction! I hope 2011 will be even more productive in  both personal and professional field. One thing I really need to work this coming year is on myself and I am sure things will fall in place. I wanted to include a few paintings I did this year that  shows my development as an artist this year! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Citrus, Oil on Panel, 8"x16"

Life Gives You Lemon, Oil on Canvas, 11"x14"

Candies for Sale, Oil on Canvas, 18"x18"

Liquid Candy, Oil on Canvas, 18"x24"

Falling Leaves, Mixed Media on Paper, 12"x16"

Melodies, Mixed Media on Panel, 8"x10"