N.B., Click on images to zoom.
'Female, back view'
Oil Pastel on white paper. 15 minute sketch.
With a quick sketch like the one above, the artistic expectations are necessarily low. One expects possibly to capture the 'gesture' of the figure, or a broad indication of the form of the subject. But not a lot more.
Given more time, a day or so, or even weeks, then one would expect the image to be much more accurate, expressive, detailed, inclusive, etc. It all depends on conditions and context.
I've been to see the film Mr.Turner a couple of times in the last few days, and am very pleasantly surprised by it. I rather suspect that part of my enjoyment derives from the fact that my expectations of the film were not high. I realise that there have been very good reviews of the film. And with an actor of the quality of Timothy Spall, and a director like Mike Leigh, then the omens are good.
But on the other hand I have seen many films of artist's lives which have been a let-down, if not downright poor.
There was the 'Agony and the Ecstasy', with Charlton Heston as Michelangelo, and Vincente Minnelli's 'Lust for Life' with Kirk Douglas starring as Van Gogh. Both of these were enjoyable as entertainment, but as depictions of the lives of artists they tended to lean towards the hysterical.
Now maybe, as a painter, I'm looking for a certain honesty and realism in the depiction of the artist and about the way painters think and work. And so these exaggerated, hyperbolic representations can really grate.
So the Turner film's more realistic approach is very refreshing.
Of course, quite a few people I've spoken to about the film don't like it. (I think of this movie as a 'Marmite' production, in that people either love it or they hate it). In particular, I've heard quite a few people say that the film doesn't explain the motivation of the artist sufficiently clearly. And I may be wrong, but I think that this disappointment is to do with a certain preconception, i.e., the romanticised idea of the 'artist' , and also the idea of the angel of inspiration descending and gently touching the brow of the artist before a burst of creativity can occur.
In fact, I find that most artists or painters in my experience are much more down to earth, and would explain their motivation in a very prosaic fashion, as in "I do it because it's what I do". (Of course there are also the kind of artists who, rather pretentiously, invent spurious 'arty' motives to impress, and as part of their 'you-may-not-understand-because-you're-not-an-artist' marketing drive).
I remember a student who I taught a few years ago and was a brilliant painter. Perhaps one of the most naturally 'gifted' students, if I dare use that contentious term, that I've ever come across.
Yet he just could not, or would not, talk confidently about his paintings. When we had a session on interview practice, and he was asked to explain his paintings, he simply mumbled something along the lines of 'I just kind-of did it! He worked continuously and habitually, and believed that the picture should explain itself.
He reminded me very much of Mr. Turner who grunted and mumbled his way through conversations on artistic motivation and who tended always towards self deprecation and self criticism (while at the same time having a very clear and realistic understanding of his own achievements).
A couple of days ago I saw some paintings in a local gallery, and I said to Mari that I thought they looked pretty good, in that setting. However, if we had seen them in a more prestigious art gallery or in a good museum then the expectations would be much higher, and then they would look poor.
The paintings would have been the same, but the expectations would have changed!
Judgement and appraisal is all to do with expectations, great or otherwise.
quiz quiz quiz quiz quiz “details, details............” quiz quiz quiz quiz quiz
What's happening here, and who painted it?
(The answer will be in the next posting.)
And here's the answer from the last posting -
'The Romans of the Decadence'
by Thomas Couture, 1847, Musee d'Orsay, Paris
quiz quiz quiz quiz quiz “details, details............” quiz quiz quiz quiz quiz
Gerhard Richter
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