FEBRUARY MEETING: An “ism” 1890-1930
A very interesting meeting with some very diverse paintings and artists.
Andrea chose to illustrate Eroticism with Hieronymus Bosch’s painting of The Garden of
Earthly Delights. This could be the sole subject of an entire newsletter! Briefly, the
triptych depicts “a place filled with the intoxicating air of perfect liberty”.
Hieronymus Bosch c1450-1516
The Garden of Earthly Delights c1490-1510
Oil on wood panels 220 x 389cms
Museo del Prado, Madrid
Jan’s choice was Pointillism where pure paint is put on the canvas in dots and appears,
from a distance, to be a mixed colour. Pointillism began in the mid 19th century and the
term was originally used to ridicule this style.
Georges Seurat (1859-1891)
Bathers at Asnieres”1884
Oil on canvas 2.01m x 3m
National Gallery
Realism began in the mid 19th century
and was an attempt to depict things
accurately from either a visual, social
or emotional perspective.
Nancy
showed us this example by Christopher
Nevinson (1889-1946)
Paths of Glory 1917
Oil on canvas 61 x 46cm
Imperial War Museum
Wendy explained Symbolism to us with many examples of work by William Blake, Henry
Fuseli, Gustav Moreau and Gustav Klimt to name but a few. It started in the late 19th
century and symbols are used to express mystical ideas, emotions and states of mind.
Arnold Bocklin 1827-1901
Isle of the dead 1886
Oil on panel 80 x 150 cms
Museum der bildenden Künste
Jenny introduced us to the idea of Constructivism
(early 20th century) which rejected the idea of art for
art’s sake; instead objects were created to carry out a
fundamental analysis of the materials and forms of art.
The essence of Naum Gabo’s art was the exploration of
space which he believed could be done without having
to depict mass.
Naum Gabo 1890-1977
Linear Construction No. 4 (1959)
Aluminium and stainless steel
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Denise chose Cubism (early 20th century) which
derived its name from comments by artist Henri
Matisse and art critic Louis Vauxcelles about this
painting by Georges Braque (1882-1963) which were
that it looked as though it was composed of cubes.
Traditional ideas such as proportions and
perspective were abandoned in favour of a mind’s
eye or total view of an object.
Houses at l’Estague 1908
Oil on canvas 73 x 60 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Berne
Brian explored the various examples of Vorticism
from sculptures by Epstein to paintings by
Wyndham Lewis. Vorticism began in the early 20th
century inspired by cubism. It rejected landscape
and nudes in favour of abstraction.
Wyndham Lewis 1882-1957
Workshop c1914
Oil on canvas 76.5 x 61 cms
Tate Collection
Barbara chose Abstract Expressionism which
started post WWII in America. This combines
emotional intensity and self denial of German
Expressionism with the anti-figurative
aesthetic of European abstract schools such as
Futurism, Bauhaus and Synthetic Cubism.
Jackson Pollock 1912-1956
Moon Woman Cuts the Circle c1943
Oil on canvas 109.5 x 104 cm
Musée National d'Art Moderne,
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
MARCH MEETING: Still Life with Flowers
Medieval paintings depict religious subjects, therefore still life is not seen to be
contributing to our understanding. It was also forbidden to create graven images.
Gradually other items became the subject of paintings and still life began. However, in
the hierarchy of importance in paintings it is still at the bottom. Top are mythological
and religious paintings followed by portraits and landscape.
In 1883, Paul Gauguin, influenced by Pisarro,
became a full time professional. However, this
painting, brought in by Margaret, was painted
in 1886 whilst he was still an amateur.
Paul Gauguin 1848-1903
Still Life with White Bowl 1886
Oil on canvas
59.5 x 72 cms
Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (15731621) was the first great Dutch specialist
in fruit and flower painting and the head of
a family of artists.
He established a
tradition that influenced an entire
generation of fruit and flower painters in
the Netherlands and was Glennis’ choice.
Flower Still Life 1614
Oil on copper
286 x 381 cms
The J Paul Getty Museum
Wendy explained how still life painting
spread from the Netherlands to Spain
and beyond. The paintings were usually
on dark backgrounds with only the
subject showing.
Balthazar van der Ast 1593-1657
Basket of Flowers with Shells on Ledge
Oil on board
20 x 28.4 cms
The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Andrea introduced us to Evaristo
Baschenis (1617-1677) Italy’s most
distinguished still life painter who
concentrated on musical instruments for
his subject.
Still Life with Musical Instruments c1650
Oil on canvas
115 x 160 cms
Accademia Carrara, Bergamo
Jenny led us through botanical paintings from
figurative still life to abstract. This painting by
Arthur Harry Church (1865-1937) has a touch of
Art Nouveau about it.
Mourning Widow (Geranium phaeum) 1909
Watercolour and gouache on board
235 x 35 cms
The Natural History Museum, London
Jan’s choice was Jan Davidsz de Heem (1606-1683) who
studied under Balthazar van der Ast. Apparently his
sons painted the pictures which he then touched up and
signed!
A Vase of Flowers c 1660
Oil on Canvas
69.6 x 56.5
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
.
Denise showed us a DVD about the only still life
Caravaggio ever painted and the first known
painting of a basket of fruit.
Michelangelo Carravagio (1571-1610)
Basket of Fruit 1596
Oil on canvas
31 x 47 cms
Biblioteca Ambrosiana
Nancy illustrated her choice with a series of paintings made by Dr Spike Bucklow as a
third year exercise in a course for Paintings Conservation. Dr Bucklow’s copy of Flowers
and Fruit by Jan van Os (1744-1808) reveals the techniques and stages of the painting
process. Below is the original painting. Dr Bucklow’s copy is half finished so that the
various processes can be seen.
Oil on board
78.7 x 58.7 cms
The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
The copy was prepared and
painted in a similar way to the
original.
A mahogany board was sized with
animal glue, covered with three layers of chalk and rubbed
down followed by a further two layers of lead white and chalk
in linseed oil.
The underdrawing was done in pencil - the whole design was drawn and then painted as the
various fruit and flowers came into season or sometimes earlier studies were used.
The pigments were obtained from earth, plants and minerals and mixed with poppy oil
which dries slowly but does not yellow with age.
Detail from the original painting showing underdrawing
visible through the paint, around the edge of some of the
grapes.