Well readers, the unthinkable has happened. I am too exhausted to write . I have posted a Manet, two Frans Hals and a number of Robert Henri paintings. I intend to compare them but I just can't continue tonight. I have been teaching and traveling. Look at the images, and tomorrow I will post them again with some commentary. This might be fun anyway. Perhaps you could log on to the comments and tell me how they resemble one another. I certainly think they do. What do you think? A very tired Stape
Posts
20 comments:
Hope you are getting your much needed rest. I'll go out on a limb and say the similarity I seem in subject matter is something related to youth?
Hello tired Stape,
Incredible blog. I did nothing the first several days I discovered it but sift through the endless posts. There is so much here. Thank you for doing it.
Here's my crack at the paintings up for comparison for what its worth;
-All the paintings are about figures/heads that dominate the picture plane head on.
-All the paintings are in a 'muted', simple, restricted, restrained palette of yellow/red/black....a couple have a bit of blue, but the black dominates as the cool.
-They are high contrast for the most part, and in a medium or low value key.
-They are all paintings by AMAZING painters.
-One could classify them as 'Tonalist' paintings.
Ok, what did I get wrong or miss?
-Edward
I'd add there is a heavy Dutch and slightly less Spanish vibe to ALL the paintings as well......
They do look similar. Great brush work. Soften features, except maybe for the Fran Hals. I really find teeth in portrait painting scary looking.Boys set in a boyish milieu....I give up.
Deb, Mary, Stapelton, I do have an inner Goth! Seriously,I do love tonalist work and I might try it again someday when the dark mood moves me so. Never say never.However, I have a real itch to do night time paintings. Now, that would be an interesting workshop!
Boys wear clothes; girls are mostly naked.
There's a ton of great issues you could talk about in this group of paintings. Tones (values) were a huge concern for each of these painters as they went about telling their respective stories. And they did it very well, and then some.
I had to laugh when I got to Barbara Carr's comment.
It is so true. (One thing I really like about teaching Life Drawing classes at MICA is that we use men and women equally as nude models. It is great to see them side by side up on our model stands).
Burning the candle at both ends is something a person can only do for so long before a crash.
Take it easy, get some rest, take some time for yourself.
If you burn out what would all of us who read your sage advice everyday do?
Tim Fitz
Barbara & Philip of course knocked me off my train of thought - naked girls & clothed boys! Too funny ! ...Isn't it called gratuitous nudity? Painting naked girls just because the artist likes them more than naked boys? You can see right through to the intent of their picture - what ever their skill. Landscapes are more complex and difficult .
Marian - nocturnes- you bet ! That's why I'm getting home so late for dinner. I usually paint till dark when I can get the really good ones.
Stapleton these posts are great but get some rest !
I think a limited palette ,all portraits and Barbara's comment . take a break Stape and a good night sleep ,you deserve it .
Hi Stape, first I just want to thank you for this blog... have been enjoying it immensely and have it set as my home page so each morning I read your latest inspiring and informative words
In response to your latest post, I immediately responded to the "eyes" of all of them - to me, the eyes are all so striking and so much a part of each portrait - The Manet boy could almost be one of the Hals boys if you added the unruly hair, and the two Hals could be brothers - the young girl by Henri and the final Mata-Moana look like they could be mother daughter - I love the tonalist colours and the reds - my favourites from this batch are the beautiful cherub faced child (3) and the nude (5) so beautifully done, almost fragile and delicate
I wonder also if their eyes and faces are so striking because of the limited palette and beautiful use of colour muted and soft
Have a good rest - don't worry we will all be right here when you get back ;)
Zorn palette? Just guessing.
I hope your not driving with coffee in one hand, and cigar in the other.
I can't imagine Stape asleep at the wheel.
Well, they are all human for one thing. The focus in on the face-softly done with a compassion and expression in the eyes-almost exotic. I don't see spanish but french and danish, strong contrast around the head, lots of feeling. I am reading Henri so I like him the best now. Manet is second favorite- I only see tonalism in Hals portrait, strong color in the others. That is my 2 cents. Rest up,
Someone mentioned landscape... One common element for all of these paintings is that there are no landscapes. All of the figures are presented with muted and flat backgrounds. Some of them have a suggestion of an indoor environment. The first poor boy barely has a floor to stand on!
I guess this kind of approach allows the background to provide harmony and contrast in color, tone, and value.
So funny, Barbara!
Here's my take:
-With the exception of the first one, they are all informal poses.
-They seem casual... and even the facial expressions show the artist capturing them "in the moment".
-They are NOT "idealized".
-Also, the first one is "flatter" with less dimension, and it's more colorful too.
I think you were overly tired when you threw the Manet in there. All the others have a strong oblique light source.
The Manet flute boy has a more vibrant palette, is floating (as someone noted) and no shadows on the figure - he was just thrown in to confuse us, right?
Can't wait for you to enlighten us.
There is not a lot of detail in these paintings. On the whole, the figures are described in very broad terms.
Robert Henri has been compared to Franz Hals and probably studied his work in the Dutch museums while he painted in Holland. Two of his pieces are currently in the Dutch Utopia exhibit at the Taft Museum in Cincinnati. The vitality of his brushwork and vibrant colors made him one of the more compelling artists there. Particularly reminiscent of Hals is Henri's Laughing Dutch Girl.
I hope that you are feeling better soon...
May the Peace of the Lord be upon
you and yours...Rest well Stapleton
As for the paintings, they all seem
to have evoked the one thing we as artists want in our own paintings.
Emotion, while maybe different in each of us, It is clearly there.
BTW "out of pocket" means I'm not at home. Have been in Homa, La. for the last week. Road Trip with my daughter-law,(her father had openheart surgery) Was only about a 11 hour drive.
I have no idea.
They are all somewhat front lit. They all are limitedd pallets. They are all portraits and they all approach the sublime.
If I respond to each of these I will have nothing to say in the blog. So thank you all, and I will see you in the next post.
....................
Post a Comment