Category: 131

Sonia Delaunay

(1885-197)

Sonia Delaunay was a Ukrainian born French artist and designer. She is known for her colourful geometric pattern. Shew was born in 1885 in Odesa in Ukraine to a poor Jewish family and was then sent to live with her wealthy uncle Henri Terk at the age of five.

She studied drawing in Germany at the Karlsruhe Academy of Fine Arts before moving to Paris in 1906. She met an art dealer, Wilhelm Uhde, who also became her partner which helped her achieve her french citizenship. She then left her husband for Robert Delaunay and together they pioneered a fusion between cubism and Neo-Impressionism which is know known as Orphism.

She used Orphism for her paintings, textiles, and designs over the course of her career. In 1964 Sonia became the first living female artist to have a retrospective at the Louvre Museum. On December 5th she died in Paris France at the old age of 94.

She expanded beyond painting, some say it’s so she could give her husband space for his paintings but luckily she did because she went on to design textiles and interiors and fashion boutiques, set and costume design, and clothing that sold worldwide.

Prismes électriques (Electric Prisms), 1914, is one of her key works because it is an ode to modernity. The use of light and colour displays a trademark of her designs which are concentric circles. Another piece of hers is Nu jaune, 1908, which is a woman with warm yellow skin against a cool emerald. It is one of her most striking uses of tone. The face of the model is still mask-like and the colours suit her modernistic style.

Sonia’s art is beautiful. I love that she created textiles and designs from these Oprhism colour full paintings. In her lifetime she achieved amazing things. She pioneered a road for women alike and set new standards. I think she is a very inspirational woman and love her bathing suit design. Wanting to start designing textiles myself as a branch of the world that I do, I personally think that it is very cool to learn about her and learn from her experience. Knowing it is possible

Refereneces:

Delaunay, Sonia (1885 – 1979). (1998). In Market House Books Ltd. (Ed.), The penguin Biographical Dictionary of Women. Penguin. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/penbdw/delaunay_sonia_1885_1979/0?institutionId=6884

Gombrich, E. H. (1966). The story of art. New York: Phaidon Publishers; distributed by Oxford University Press.

Photo Reference:

https://m.theartstory.org/artist/delaunay-sonia/

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/delaunay-sonia/artworks/

Gustav Klimt

(1862-1918)

Gustav Klimt was born in 1862 in Austria on the outskirts of Vienna. They say that he was genetically predisposition to the arts at an early age and left normal school to attend the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts on a full scholarship. Coming from poverty and at such a young age, he was seen as very talented in the eyes of the academy. He received classical training that he accepted and focused on architectural painting later on. He actually wanted to become a drawing teacher early in his career but his horizons broader when his talent earned various small commissioned while he was still in school, and when he graduated he opened a studio with his younger brother Ernst and a friend named Franz Masch.

They called themselves the Company of Artists and focused on murals. Then in 1890 the Klimt brothers and Masch joined the Vienna Artists Association, a group that controlled the majority o the exhibitions in the city. Having a successful career with his brother, who died alongside his father, Klimt changed his style to the style that we love and know him for. Taking him on a different path.

Klimt was influenced by Jugendstil which was the Art Nouveau trend happening in Germany. Jugendstil means “Young Style” and the style was centred around floral motifs, organically inspired lines and eventually moved towards abstraction and functionalism. It became important for Expressionists in Germany and Austria who were creating new visions of the modern subject.

Klimt also was a founding member of the Vienna Sezession group in 1987. This group was given to various groups of German and Austrian artists in the 1890s who seceded from official academic art institutions in order to found new schools of painting. The first was in Munich in 1892. The connection with Klimt’s paintings and the art nouveau movement was known as the Vienna Sezession in 1897

Klimts paintings were often seen as sensual and erotic and had a jewelled effect (like The Kiss). His paintings are characterized by academic forms that are obscured by massed repetitive decorative elements such as gold backgrounds and frames. He also loved to draw women specifically and never drew a self-portrait because it was the feminine that was so magical for him to draw. That was where his interest was. He would draw the feminine in a sensual, erotic, powerful way.

Judith and the Head of Holofernes and the kiss are two of my favourite works of his. I love his use of colours and the looks on the faces of the women that he draws. The decorative and colourful tone of the overall paintings really put me in awe of the drawings and makes me idolize his style. I feel that the colour and expressions are powerful and sensual at the same time.

Sources:

Gombrich, E. H. (1966). The story of art. New York: Phaidon Publishers; distributed by Oxford University Press.

Klimt, Gustav. (2018). In Helicon (Ed.), The Hutchinson unabridged encyclopedia with atlas and weather guide. Helicon. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/heliconhe/klimt_gustav/0?institutionId=6884

Klimt, Gustav. (2018). In Gale Cengage Learning (Ed.), Gale biographies: popular people. Gale. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/galegbpp/klimt_gustav/0?institutionId=6884

Photo Reference:

https://www.biography.com/artist/gustav-klimt#:~:text=Born%20in%201862%2C%20Austrian%20painter,Portrait%20of%20Adele%20Bloch%2DBauer.

Judith II, 1909, by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), 178×41 cm, Detail. (2014). In Bridgeman Images (Ed.), Bridgeman images. Bridgeman. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/bridgemandeag/judith_ii_1909_by_gustav_klimt_1862_1918_178x41_cm_detail/0?institutionId=6884

Lady with a hat and a feather boa, by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918). (2014). In Bridgeman Images (Ed.), Bridgeman images. Bridgeman. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/bridgemandeag/lady_with_a_hat_and_a_feather_boa_by_gustav_klimt_1862_1918/0?institutionId=6884

Nuda Veritas (Naked truth), 1899, by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), oil on canvas, 252×56 cm. (2014). In Bridgeman Images (Ed.), Bridgeman images. Bridgeman. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/bridgemandeag/nuda_veritas_naked_truth_1899_by_gustav_klimt_1862_1918_oil_on_canvas_252x56_cm/0?institutionId=6884

https://www.biography.com/artist/gustav-klimt

The Story Behind Gustav Klimt’s Shimmering Symbolist Painting ‘The Kiss’

John Constable

(1776-1837)

John Constable was born on June 11, 1776, in East Bergholt, Suffolk England and died in London on March 31st, 1837. He was a major influence and icon to so many aspiring artists at that time and today. He is mostly known for his landscape paintings in the early 19th century.

Constable would paint the English countryside more often than not. He was particularly fond of a valley with a riving running through it called River Stour, which is also known as Constable Country. He rejected drawing iconic scenery and stuck to places that he knew of or was found of.

Constable drew very comforting, beautiful, lush nature scenes in contrast to another amazing artist of that time, J.M.W Turner, who had a more destructive nature. Constables lush natural scenes seemed to be worshiping nature in all of its beauty which showed through in the art created for the Stour Valley region. Constable rejected the “clockwork metaphor of nature typical of the Age of Reason” and would express his paintings from his heart.

After his marriage in 1816, he moved to London and developed these sketches of the valley in a very systematic, scientific approach. At this time he also began to work on a six-foot landscape, idealizing his memories of Suffolk. He gained recognition slowly, and when his wife died he went into himself. He created more idyllic scenes of an agricultural golden age and started to use watercolours later in his career.

I really enjoy Constable’s work. The colours are work together really well and draw you into the image. I enjoy how the elements are not overly detailed but you are able to see the scene for what it is. It really evokes a dramatic but mellow approach with the use of colour and style.

Sources:

Day, F. (2003). Constable, John 1776-1837. In C. J. Murray (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the romantic era, 1760-1850. Routledge. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/routromanticera/constable_john_1776_1837/0?institutionId=6884

Constable, John (1776 – 1837). (1996). In S. West (Ed.), The Bloomsbury Guide to Art. Bloomsbury. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/bga/constable_john_1776_1837/0?institutionId=6884

Gombrich, E. H. (1966). The story of art. New York: Phaidon Publishers; distributed by Oxford University Press.

Photo References:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Constable

Caspar David Friedrich

(1774-1840)

Caspar David Friedrich was from 19th century Germany. He was a very important painter in art history. His art was inspired by the romantic movement. He was a landscape artist who saw the beauty in the bleak. He created these beautiful landscape paintings out of a very dull view. He is best known for his paintings with silhouetted figures against the morning, evening, misty, with barren trees, and gothic ruins. His main interest as an artist was nature in all its glory. He would convey the spiritual experiences of life expressed through the landscape.

He was born in Greifswald in northern Germany in 1774. When he was old enough he went to Copenhagen until 1798 before settling in Dresden. The period he grew up in was materialistic which led many to appreciate a new and more simple approach combined with spiritualism. His artwork fully expressed that new spiritualism, as many other artists had goals in that time to create nature in a new form. They wanted to bring landscape art to a new level as it was not seen as a smaller branch of art.

When Germany moved towards modernization, a new urgency was brought to its art, and Friedrichs beautiful yet still creations that evoked a deeper feeling and connection went out of style. Thus, he went out of style in the second half of the nineteenth century. He was rediscovered in 1906 when an exhibition of 32 of his paintings and sculptures was held in Berlin. Onwards his work was appreciated by the Expressionists, surrealists, and existentialists. He is seen as a big player, if not an icon of the German romantic movement, and a painter that is internationally famous and of great importance.

I really enjoy how spiritual or how you feel something more when you look at his drawings. They are neither an overly interesting scene nor colourful, but they have a soft feeling about them. The contrast in the paintings is remarkable and I think it’s that contrast that really makes the viewer feel the softness in the dark or the spiritual connection in the day to day life.

Reference:

Friedrich, Caspar David (1774 – 1840). (2003). In The MacMillan encyclopedia (2nd ed.). Market House Books Ltd. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/move/friedrich_caspar_david_1774_1840/0?institutionId=6884

Friedrich, Caspar David. (2018). In P. Lagasse, & Columbia University, The Columbia encyclopedia (8th ed.). Columbia University Press. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/columency/friedrich_caspar_david/0?institutionId=6884

Cardinal, R. (2003). Friedrich, Caspar David 1774-1840. In C. J. Murray (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the romantic era, 1760-1850. Routledge. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/routromanticera/friedrich_caspar_david_1774_1840/0?institutionId=6884

Gombrich, E. H. (1966). The story of art. New York: Phaidon Publishers; distributed by Oxford University Press.

Photo Reference:

https://www.caspardavidfriedrich.org/Self-Portrait-As-A-Young-Man.html

https://search-credoreference-com.ezproxy.capilanou.ca/content/entry/bridgemandeag/monk_by_sea_by_caspar_david_friedrich_1774_1840_oil_on_canvas_110x171_cm_1808_1809/0

https://search-credoreference-com.ezproxy.capilanou.ca/content/entry/bridgemandeag/abbey_in_the_oakwood_by_caspar_david_friedrich_circa1809_oil_on_canvas_1774_1840_1104_cm_x171/0

https://search-credoreference-com.ezproxy.capilanou.ca/content/entry/bridgemandeag/the_cross_in_the_mountains_1808_by_caspar_david_friedrich_1774_1840_oil_on_canvas_115x110_cm/0

Anthony Van Dyck

(1599-1641)

Anthony Van Dyck was a talented young painter along the same lines as Rubens, he was one of Rubens’s chief assistants. He lived from 1599-1641.

He was a master of texture and surface details, from garments to human flesh just like Rubens. But they differed in personality. Van Dyck was a moody character. His paintings had a way about them that always felt rather unhappy. This unhappy moody feeling did draw the attention of Kings and other royalty. He was taken on to be the court painter for Charles I. He was brought onto the court and dubbed Sir Anthony Van Dyck.

He would paint the royal family and recorded the nature and the portraits of the higher upper class. A very good representation is of Charles I beside his horse, he looks incredibly pompous and has an air of a king. He is elegant, is showing authority, and can be seen to be upper-class. Van Dyck portrays the king exactly how you would imagine a king would look when you think about one in this day and age. The way he painted the king made the rest of the upper-class society swoon after Van Dyck.

Due to the entire upper class wanting these paintings of themselves to show off their elegance and prudeness he was so overworked that he too had to hire on other people to help him paint. He has many assistants. They would paint everything but the face, and sometimes Anothny would not even paint the entire face but he did touch each photo. This did affect portrait painting in the long run but it is undeniable that he did paint some amazing portraits of the blue-bloods.

I really enjoy the way that Anthony Van Dyck paints his royal clients. His attention to detail on the clothing is pretty amazing. I also think that he captures the essence of his clients wonderfully. There is a feeling of elegance but for the main part it portrays the royalty that these people possessed, and it is as if you are looking at the paiting through the eyes of the client, as to how they would want to see themselves.

Reference:

Gombrich, E. H. (1966). The story of art. New York: Phaidon Publishers; distributed by Oxford University Press.

Dyck, Anthony Van. (2018). In Helicon (Ed.), The Hutchinson unabridged encyclopedia with atlas and weather guide. Helicon. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/heliconhe/dyck_anthony_van/0?institutionId=6884

Photo Reference:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436258

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sir-anthony-van-dyck-565

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/van-dyck-anthony/artworks/

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/feb/14/anthony-van-dyck-portrait-painting

Andrea Mantegna

(1431-1506)

Andrea Mantegna was a talented painter from the Early Renaissance period where he spent most of his life in the North of Italy in Padua and Mantua. Heavily influenced by the new art of Donatello and Masaccio. He too mastered the art of perspective drawing and adapted light and shade into his work which helped with the depth and the overall appearance of his art.

When Mantegna was painting he tried to see the scene as a stage as if he was actually there and what he desired was to recreate the scene down to the very last detail. Like Giotto, he wanted to know the inner meaning of the story and recreate how people would react, but he also was very curious about the external details of the situation.

The painting above is an illustration series of St James. One of Mantegna’s most known paintings that shows great external details and the movement and flow of the people in the scene. To portray the scene properly he started to study in-depth about Ancient Rome, from their architecture down to the clothing that they would wear. He shied away from over powering colourful and joyous international style drawings and kept his centrepiece figures towering and powerful.

Most of Mantegna’s art was destroyed in World War 2, but they say that some of his paintings were “among the greatest works of all time”(Gombrich, 257). You can see by his artwork that he thought that ancient art was superior and that he did not overdo sensual expression or create overly joyful artworks, but I think we can all agree that he was one of the masters of perspective, light and shade.

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I really enjoy the use of dulled down colours and the way that Mantegna sets up a “stage”. Although the expressions of his characters are not his main focus I still think that he does a good job portraying the emotion of his subjects and the overall tone of the painting. My favourite piece is St. Sebastian for the soft colours, the towering figure and the use of perspective.

Resources:

Gombrich, E. H. (1966). The story of art. New York: Phaidon Publishers; distributed by Oxford University Press.