They sculpted well a tad earlier...
Lightwizard, Thanks so much for the link to Elaine de Koonings' torchlight series. I think these images are very good, but she seems, perhaps inevitably, to be working in a different direction from the cave artists. The cave artists took the images down to their living essence; De Kooning is commenting on this life in her own style, which is unavoidably additive in this context. This does not mean I fault the de Koonings; I like them very much; however, she and the cave artists are opposite in approach: they are creating life by refinement to the core; she is celebrating life by expanding. I wonder if there are any other modern artists who connect so profoundly to cave art. De Kooning is doing so much more than simply quoting it!
Your post about highlights is very interesting. We'll never know if cave artists even thought about the topic. I suspect that, as you suggest, shape is all. As hunters, these artists would likely favor side views--the largest target. Also, if the artists wanted to convey the impressive size of a beast, the side view would be logical. Returning to the subject of highlights, surely the cave artists must have frequently seen the animals backlighted, which would ring their shape with blazing fur. Yet, there seems to be no depiction of this phenomenon.
I, too, am puzzled by the slow arrival of single-point perspective and depiction of reflected light. It's not as if people before the early Renaissance weren't studying complex geometries and trying to fathom the substance of light.
Vivien, about the stick figures in petroglyphic art. The taboo on human forms is one of the further-out speculations. More commonly, anthropologists and art historians see the stick figures as representative of the way anthropomorphic shapes appear during trance states. If you can provide me an e-address that works, I'll send you some pictures my wife and I made this November of petroglyphs at the V-Bar-V site, outide of Sedona, AZ. They're very beautiful--the subjects, not my pictures!
Ossobuco, Good point! Perhaps, if an early artist wanted three dimensions, he or she went right for sculpture. And, if such an artist wanted a wall representation, she went for shape and fairly solid color, and didn't worry much about trying to make two dimensions look like three. I wonder if Vivien's mention of a cave artist's using a ridge in the wall to bring forward an animal's limb is a unique instance of that technique.
I'd love to see the pictures - thanks - I've pm'd my email address
I did a painting/drawing of the new kitten this morning it's on the Rosie and Paddy and Animal Paintings threads if anyone feels like critiqueing (sp?) it. He was incredibly hard to do as he's totally black, even his whiskers.
Yes--especially in line, some of the earliest "pure abstraction," but also in use of color. A really good suggestion, Ossobuco. And Kandinsky taught for about 10 years at the Bauhaus, so it is likely that he had direct influence on other artists. But on whom, do you think?
I am not such an expert, I'll let others answer that, Miklos.
I ran across that link coincidentally by checking the Artdaily newsletter, a website that is driving me nuts. At least in my hands, for some reason, while they have many wonderful links, all the links open on the present day's particular link - so that tomorrow I won't be able to see that Kandinsky link, it'll be something else.
Edit to say that's not quite true, that Kandinsky link was a museum link on the artdaily.com site, not one of the daily links, so it should still work in the morning.
I also ran across another link for a new Caravaggio exhibit recently that called Caravaggio the first modern painter...
Kandinsky's work was all tied up with mystical theories wasn't it? there was Russian woman mystic who had a profound effect on him. I've forgotten the details
Miklos7 wrote:Yes--especially in line, some of the earliest "pure abstraction," but also in use of color. A really good suggestion, Ossobuco. And Kandinsky taught for about 10 years at the Bauhaus, so it is likely that he had direct influence on other artists. But on whom, do you think?
Certainly, Klee and Kandinsky influenced on each others work.
And others?
Quote:Parallel to the preliminary courses, Vassily Kandinsky offered classes in "analytical drawing" in which the construction principles of object arrangements created by the students from materials found in the classroom were analyzed. The students were to decide on primary and secondary tensions, to identify dominant elements, and to note down these points in simple linear drawings. These, derived from a sort of still-life structure, could substantially differ from student to student. There was no obligation for them to be unequivocal. The aim of the course was to understand the process of abstraction.
In the second semester, Kandinsky gave a course under the title "primary artistic design" which, in its fully developed form, presented the framework for a theory of design. It was built up on the basics of the organization of an image, the function of the center and the edges, and the characteristics of lines, planes, and bodies.
His color classes became particularly famous, especially for his association of the primary colors yellow, red, and blue with the basic geometrical forms triangle, square, and circle. Kandinsky explained the structure of different color systems, called attention to the psychological effects of color and dealt with the specificity of the non-colors, black and white. The studies, for the most part commentated and visually carefully presented, reveal both the systematic style of the course and the range of possible interpretations of Kandinsky's teachings.
Kandinsky himself, however, was not dogmatic. He often relativized his own ideas concerning design theory, and remained open to other solutions. His professed relation between color and form constituted only one, and not even the most plausible feature of his tuition. He would certainly have been very surprised to see it develop into a highly popular Bauhaus trademark.
In 1928, Kandinsky started free painting classes in which he concentrated on the description in words of the basic elements of his art and the impartation of apparent rules thereof to the students.
Source
Because of his friendship with the Guggenheims, Kandinsky's work was exhibited in depth in NYC--and quite frequently. Towards the end of his career, Kandinsky's paintings turned heavily geometric, but I wonder if his color (which he perceived as musical--literally) and intensity influenced Willem de Kooning, certainly one the greatest modern artists in the U.S.
De Kooning, an amazing colorist--and an articulate guy when he wanted to be--spoke several times of the rhythm (musical, or purely visual?) of his painting. Another possible Kandinsky-de Kooning connection is Joan Miro, who often visited Kandinsky at his studio in Neuilly. De Kooning allowed that Miro was a significant influence on him.
A lot of maybes here! Someone with more knowledge please tell me if these connections are genuine or silly. Kandinsky surely must have had a strong effect on some U.S. painters.
De Kooning began his career painting for interior designers so his colorways became highly coordinated to a designer's scheme. He broke away into painting in limited color in his first major paintings like "Excavation" but returned to colors that were striking because they always look so right in their subtle muting and contrast. "A Night in Havana" is still my favorite of the landscapes -- that powerful shadowy image of a figure looming over what I perceived as dark doorways and the haunting music of the street. A recent hour hi-def special Discovery documentary on the music of Cuba brought the image back to mind.
Hi folks. I've been out of commisson; had to have my hard drive replaced. I havn't caught up on the fascinating discussion yet, but I got as far as Vivian and Miklos' notion that artistic sophistication, while not exactly like that seen today, is entirely possible for the cave dwellers. It would be ethnocentric of me to assume that our art today is the product of a "progessive" evolutionary process that has necessarily developed from naive to sophisticated. It is entirely possible that while the cave dwellers did not have our science they could have been far more sophisticated in other areas. If we talk to a "primitive" today we might be amazed how naive he is regarding matters of science, but if we talk to him about matters of justice, friendship, the Good Life, and, perhaps, the importance of beauty, not to mention all the other possibilities, we might find that we have not "evolved" as much as we fancy we have. I would add that the appreciation of beauty (broadly defined) is a "primitive" capacity that we retain today, and I hope we never lose it.
Now to go back and catch up.
JL, very happy to see you back. What's with the hard drive, bubula? she says, breezily, after worrying...
Osso, yeah, the worst thing to happen to an A2K addict. Fortunately the small Mac store where I bought the laptop moved heaven and earth to replace the damaged parts and install them for me. They've won my loyalty. Good business procedure if you ask me.
Thanks for noticing my absence. I did, however, have the time to progress with some paintings, do yard work, clean out the garage and finish a novel. Now I'm back to the old pace.
Finish a novel???
Trust me, I want to hear.
j
glad you are back
- things have been interesting
Certainly the computer must have had an enormous impact on modern art..... Technology has allowed people in the most remote locations to reach a world wide audience for their art...
JLN, Welcome back
And may your Mac stay healthy! I think you are very smart to have purchased from a small dealer, as opposed to on-line. Every now and then, it has crossed my mind that if I crash my iMac, we crash alone.
Shepaints, a very good point. A couple of years ago, I was part of a colloquy on 21st-century China, and the facilitator asked me to do a "short overview" (!) of the Chinese contemporary art scene. Although I knew I'd learn a lot, I was gritting my teeth thinking about how tough it might be to coax anything like a representative sampling from the Net. Not tough at all! Within a few hours, I'd moved past Beijing and Shanghai and into the countryside. I was astounded--and the diversity of the art was astounding. On other occasions, I have explored remarkable indigenous art from Australia, New Guinea, and NW Canada. Returning for a moment to mainland China, I found not only art presented by computer, but computer-art offered by computer. The growing on-line web of global artistic influences is extraordinary.
Kandinsky is obviously one of the greatest of great colorists, as was his colleague, Klee. His art was vastly superior to his philosophical efforts to give it a "spiritual" grounding. As far as I'm concerned it was "deeper" than the theosophical rationalization acquired from Madame Blavatsky. When I look around I imagine many influences on others. His forceful diagonal movements remind me of Marin's and Kirchner's quick forms. I prefer Kandinsky's earlier works with the brilliance of his compositions and luscious palette; his paintings glow with analogous colors. Later, his association with the Bauhaus in the 20s led him to a more austere geometrical style. My Phaidon "The Art Book" links him to Delaunay, Gontcharova, Kirchner, Kupka, Miro, and, of course, Klee. And deKooning is so clearly a beneficiary he need not be mentioned, but I can't resist.
The Russian Constructivist certainly have a major influence on modern art and Kandinsky especially. I think the desire of the artist to create the illusion motion on the picture plane has always been a driving force in the art of the 20th Century. Even the Duchamp urinal has been "moved" and his "Large Glass" has all sorts of contraptunal motion. The advent of the more technologically advance machines could have sparked this depiction of motion. Charlie Chaplain was fascinated by the impact of machines in "Modern Times"and the focus is on machines in "Metropolis," including turning a robot into an alter ego of human form.
