Arty Party

[finnatic79]

Hi everyone, this is an idea I had at another forum and Bluejay has very kindly invited me to start a thread here. It's quite simple: post a pic of a painting that you like and tell us why it appeals to you, then someone else can comment or post a pic of their own. I'll start off with The Scream by Edvard Munch, which perfectly captures how I often feel on Mondays!

[Blue Jay]

And the rest of the week. This painting has always appealed to me very much, not because it is so beautiful that I want to hang it on the wall and look at it everyday, but because from the first moment I ever saw it, i tmade a very deep impact on me. To me, the painting represents what life is like. Very, very scary.

[lighty]

I have always like this painting - called 'Wood on the Downs' - by the British surrealist, Paul Nash.  It was painted as a testament to war - and somehow, it is easy for me to see the story he was trying to tell.



I have a hot/cold relationship with surrealism; I like some of it and some of it leaves me absolutely cold.  Overall, I prefer the post-impressionists (and impressionists) like Gauguin and Van Gogh.

[Blue Jay]

Oh, to me that one is just what the title says, a wood on the downs. That sort of landscape appeals to me very well and he captured it so well. So I just take it at face value. Now that IS something I would love to have on my wall.

Here's one of my favourites. Turner's "Rain, Steam, and Speed" (1844)

[finnatic79]

And the rest of the week. This painting has always appealed to me very much, not because it is so beautiful that I want to hang it on the wall and look at it everyday, but because from the first moment I ever saw it, i tmade a very deep impact on me. To me, the painting represents what life is like. Very, very scary.

Yes, each person is alone in this pitiless environment, and sometimes all you want to do is just go "aaaaaaaaaaaaa" at everything. A far more intelligent person than myself wrote about The Scream that it represents existential angst.

I have always like this painting - called 'Wood on the Downs' - by the British surrealist, Paul Nash.  It was painted as a testament to war - and somehow, it is easy for me to see the story he was trying to tell.

You're too deep for me, Lighty, do explain how this painting pertains to war. I can see only a representation of a windswept grove on the coast.

I do like how Rain, Steam and Speed captures the quality of light and moisture. That's one thing which always stands out in a Turner, the way he paints light. You probably can't mistake it for anybody else.

[lighty]

Me?  Deep?  Hardly . . . but here goes.

Surrealism is an expression of the dreamscape - taking ordinary realities and applying an edge or quirk to force people to reconsider how they view the commonplace (at least that's what I was taught).

In this landscape - and Nash did many British landscapes - he uses surrealism as a juxtaposition to the classic tradition of British landscape painting.  It is the Downs, yes - but it is foreign, alien, vaguely uncomfortable and causes a bit of psychic anxiety because of that - and that is exactly the sort of lingering memory and sensibility that WWI had on Europe and Britain, particularly as it catapulted toward WWII.  Think about Lawrence . . . same sort of thing, expressed in words.

Nash painted it in 1929. 

That's how I explain it to myself, anyway!

And I LOVE Turner!!

[finnatic79]

In this landscape - and Nash did many British landscapes - he uses surrealism as a juxtaposition to the classic tradition of British landscape painting.  It is the Downs, yes - but it is foreign, alien, vaguely uncomfortable and causes a bit of psychic anxiety because of that - and that is exactly the sort of lingering memory and sensibility that WWI had on Europe and Britain, particularly as it catapulted toward WWII. 

Yep, that's deep all right; I certainly didn't pick up on the "foreign, alien" and "vaguely uncomfortable", but then again I'm not English, so perhaps that's it. Thanks for the clarification!

On a lighter note, here's another of my favourites: Dignity and Impudence by Sir Edwin Landseer. Needless to say, I'm a dog person through and through. I think Landseer was particularly clever at capturing "that look" dogs have. I just want to hug these darlings!



This is another Landseer, called The Old Shepherd's Chief Mourner. It can make me quite teary at times, to think of the kind of devotion of which a dog is capable, which one might be hard-pressed to find in other people.

[Blue Jay]

Nope, not for me. Too sentimental for my taste. Although, they are not dead. I absolutely hate those pictures where there's nothing but dead animals.

[lighty]

I love dogs, but I don't like critter pictures, overall.  Occasionally I see one with horses that is nice - or black panthers (for some reason they work for me, but not the other big cats).

But Landseer's technique is beautiful, even if I'm not enamoured of the subjects.  I love how he creates light!

I like this one a lot.  I think it looks very modern - but it was done in the 15th century.  Albrecht Dürer.  I love most of his stuff, not so much for the subject matter (which is often pretty grim), but because he was such an amazing technician with a wonderful eye.

[Sylvene]

I love paintings of the old masters - and I'm particularly fond of the Dutch masters and how they managed to capture light and the intimacy of the people they portray, but they aren't necessarily the paintings I'd put on my wall. The ones I'd put up are mostly photography and illustrations.  ;)

I love Ansel Adams' work for example.  His grand photoscapes and lone trees especially.  I like the contrast and play of light as well the how well he captures the power of nature.  Be it the grand scale of the mountains or a single pine sculpted by the power of the wind.

   

[Blue Jay]

This is really wonderful. First the Dürer one. If you didn't know who did that, you would think it was a modern work.

Syl, I have never seen the works you posted but I think they are great, especially the lonely tree. It reminds me of the paintings by Dali. I also think the black/white adds something special. I used to print my own photographs and I'm still amazed what you can achieve with b/w. It's one of the things I miss when I use my digital camera. I know, you can make them b/w, but it's never the same.

[lighty]

Oh, I love Ansel Adams!  You are so right, Syl - he made art, not just pictures.

[moonflower]

Since I'm very fond of nature, and trees in particular, I love Ansel Adams.

[finnatic79]

This is really wonderful. First the Dürer one. If you didn't know who did that, you would think it was a modern work.

ITA Bluejay. To me it looks too "clean" to be that old. (Excuse me for putting it in such a dumb way)

Syl, I have never seen the works you posted but I think they are great, especially the lonely tree. It reminds me of the paintings by Dali.

Do post an example of what you're thinking, Bluejay. My Dali knowledge is quite woeful :blush: I do like some of his stuff though. Premonition of Civil War for instance.



It's a hideous painting of a hideous subject, powerful and unmistakable imagery of Spain in agony tearing herself to pieces. Like The Scream it's not one I'd like to hang on my wall but it does stay with you once you've seen it.

[Blue Jay]

Here's one of my favourites. Surrealism for me is always about the dream state to me. I dream a lot and I am often able to recall what I have dreamed. Sometimes it's about ordinary things, sometimes about ordinary things taken totally out of context, which leaves you with a weird feeling all day long. The paintings of Dali remind me of that, althought his pictures are much weirder than my dreams ever are. It's also the reason why I like an artist like Carel Willink. Here, the pictures are more like reality could be but there is usually one element that is totally out of context.

[lighty]

I'm not sure I like Willink . . . vaguely unsettling, those.  Might be my general mood today, though!  Dali is always fun, but he was soooo self-absorbed (obviously)!

How do you all feel about the abstract expressionists?  I never like abstract art when I was young; I clung, fiercely, to my preference for realism - but I've found myself more and more drawn to it as I've aged.

It's hit or miss for me, though, and largely depends on the 'period' the artist was in at the time.  I really like these:

Franz Kline (I like the stuff he started doing in the 1950s the best):

this one is called 'Study for Flanders' and it's quite small


This one is called 'Orange Outline' and I LOVE it

Then there's Jackson Pollack, who sculpted on canvas - his pieces are like whirlpools, sucking you into unfathomable depths.  Photos never do him justice.


Helen Frankenthaler.  She did such interesting things with mixed media.  I love the screen dyed canvases with oil overlays and the way she made acrylics look like watercolors.

[finnatic79]

Surrealism for me is always about the dream state to me. I dream a lot and I am often able to recall what I have dreamed. Sometimes it's about ordinary things, sometimes about ordinary things taken totally out of context, which leaves you with a weird feeling all day long. The paintings of Dali remind me of that, althought his pictures are much weirder than my dreams ever are. It's also the reason why I like an artist like Carel Willink. Here, the pictures are more like reality could be but there is usually one element that is totally out of context.

Yes I like those, especially the second one. My reason for liking any particular surrealist work isn't half as intelligent as yours though. I find I simply prefer the "clean" ones like Rene Magritte as opposed to "weird" stuff like Joan Miro, because I think I can get more sense out of it, if you know what I mean.



For instance, Magritte's The Double Secret above. To me it says that people are a mystery hiding inside another mystery. Our faces can hide what is inside, then underneath lies our psyche that we ourselves often can't comprehend. So we really are a double secret: first to others, then to ourselves.
In contrast, below is Miro's Man and Woman in front of a Pile of Excrement. Call me ignorant but I can say nothing about this painting except "Huh?"

Dali is always fun, but he was soooo self-absorbed (obviously)!

At the Dali Universe in London, there's a wall covered in quotes from him. I laughed out loud at this one: I am in a state of permanent intellectual erection! Another one that I liked was Life is respiration, aspiration and expiration.

How do you all feel about the abstract expressionists?

Probably too clever for me. Those examples shown do not draw my interest in the least, I'm afraid :blush:

[finnatic79]

I came across this while reading a newspaper article called "10 Most Creepy Things On The Internet".



It's by a living American artist called Bill Stoneham and it's titled The Hands Resist Him. Thoughts, anyone?

[Blue Jay]

The boy looks like Frankenstein's monster as played by Boris Karloff. Other than that, I don't think it's particularly creepy. It's just weird.

[finnatic79]

I don't think it's particularly creepy. It's just weird.

ITA. For me the point of interest was the painter's symbolism. The boy is himself as a child, the doorway is the path to many alternate futures, the hands pressing on the glass are the many possible lives he might experience, and the doll is a spiritual guide to help him over the threshold. One thing I can't work out is the title itself. Why do the hands resist him?