Max Starkloff: A Retrospective – Description for blind or visually impaired
By Richard Vagen
The Bruno David Gallery is showing 16 of Max Starkloff’s paintings.
His paintings, done mostly in the 1960’s, are inspired by, and reminiscent of, the
German Expressionists. German Expressionism, an art movement that began in the early
1900’s and continued for the next half century, is characterized by showing figures and
the emotion within them. They show figures in a recognizable form, not abstract.
However, they are not “real” looking - not like a photograph. Through expressive
brushstrokes, those where the strokes of the brush are often visible, and through some
distortion of the subject, the artist shows the emotional feeling of the subject. This is
often a feeling of despair, isolation, or others related to “drama”. The movement arose
with the increased industrialization of the world and in turn, the shrinking importance of
individuals. In short, German Expressionism is about emotional realism rather than
physical realism.
The Saint Louis Art Museum has the largest and best collection of a major German
Expressionist Max Beckman, and many other paintings by fine German Expressionists.
All of the paintings shown by Starkloff are figurative. There are no landscapes or purely
abstract paintings, no “non-representational”. Some show one figure, some two or
three. Some figures look straight at the viewer, some look away. Generally they are
muted colors - not vibrant, with a few exceptions where the background is a brighter
gold or yellow. They are all about 18 to 24 inches wide and 24-30 inches tall. A very
common size for paintings.
I’ll describe a few in more detail.
“The Assassination” shows two male figures, one standing in front of the other shown
from the waist up. The background is a fairly solid white color with hints of blue and
yellow. The background does not show any objects, the figures are not in a recognizable
room or environment. They both have elongated features, stretched out necks, faces,
and noses. Not absurdly stretched, not like a giraffe, but rather just a couple inches too
long. They both have very prominent features; sharp cheekbones, defined chins and
mouths. There is very strong shading, showing that the light is coming sharply in from
the viewer’s right. It is not “natural” and this is one of the aspects, along with the
elongation, that makes it more abstract than photo-realistic. Both men are wearing
white button down shirts, the one in fronts slightly askew with one collar much higher
than the other. He wears a dark jacket - an olive color, a combination of green and
brown. The figure in the back has a bright gold jacket, buttoned up. His clothes appear
more fitted, tighter, and pulling at the buttons. Also, his head is more pointed.
Generally, heads are proportioned with half of the head, the forehead and hair, above
the eyes and the half with the face below. Both of the figures have much different
proportions, with the back figure having a forehead and hair that make up about one
fifth of his head. The figure in back is shown with short and probably curly hair. It is hard
to tell as the color is very flat and there is little modeling, or shading, done. The front
figure has short, almost shaved, hair. Both figures are looking directly at the viewer.
When we view the painting we are looking them straight in the eyes. It forces us to
confront them, developing a relationship with them. Their faces have no expression just eyes open and mouths closed. This does not give the viewer a sense of joy - it is
much closer to melancholy.
Another painting, Untitled, from 1970 shows three figures. All three are men, wearing
round dark sunglasses, suit jackets, white shirts, and ties. Again, we are seeing them
from about the waist up, and one in front of the other. The three men are very similar
looking, but it is obvious they are not the same man. They have different color jackets
and differently shaped heads. The one in the middle has a very round, full face, while
the other two are narrower. Like the other painting, Assassination, the background is a
flat color, white with some hints of orange, and without any objects in it. This painting is
unlike the others as it shows the keys of a piano cutting across the front, from left to
right, going off into the distance over the shoulder of the front figure. It is not like
anything that would be considered real or possible. It is not supposed to show the
figures in front of a piano or as if they are interacting with the keys. Instead, it is closer
to a collage, where Starkloff is combining two images. The shading is not as strong or
sharp, but it is still not what would be considered “photo-realistic”. But again, that is not
the goal. The figures might be representing real people, but there is nothing in the
painting to identify them to me.
The painting titled Institution was, from my experience in talking with others, his most
popular, or, “telling” painting. It shows a figure sitting alone in an empty room. A male
figure wearing, what appears to be a dark colored robe, is seated on a bench. The floor
is dark, probably wood. The walls are white, or, off-white, and look old, almost grungy.
One of the walls has a window and what looks like dirt or cracks under it. It is like the
walls are plaster or some kind of stucco that has began peeling and crumbling in
sections. Outside the window we can see a hill in the distance and some grey sky. There
is nothing else in that small landscape, just barren land. The male is sitting with his
hands folded close to his lap. He may be praying. Or, he may just be holding his hands
together. He is not in what would probably be considered a natural pose. His head is
hunched down in his shoulders and tilted to the side. He is looking down, nowhere near
the viewer. His brown seems to be wrinkled, or they may just be wrinkles in his
forehead. He does not seem comfortable, and when I try to sit in this pose it is very
much not comfortable. He has a very receding hairline with a patch of hair coming
forward down his forehead. This painting definitely gives the feeling of isolation and
despair.
There is also a painting of John F Kennedy, sitting with his hand close to his mouth
looking off into the distance. Another one titled “The Circus People” showing to figures
from the waist up, is a subject matter that was often featured in paintings by Max
Beckman. There is another couple of painting that show a few figures made up of
various colors and angles. One Untitled painting is barely recognizable as a person, it is
his closest to abstraction.
I hope this gives some insight into the paintings and what they are like.