This is a quick little drawing I did from Etude No. 11 (Interior) by Theo van Doesburg. I would have liked to spend more time on it but there were quite a few curious museum-goers and I am never one to have viewers over my shoulder.

It's Wednesday afternoon. It is sunny and warm. The days are longer and when the days are longer, the light stays longer. Perfect for painters relying on natural light. I hope to start some new paintings soon, different versions of the the two recent ones I've completed. Soon there will be something else on my easel to post.

I saw the Pissarro show again this past weekend. Going back to it, I think I realized that some of the paintings weren't as striking as the first time I went. I still favor the painting with the tree in the dead center, however, while it may be rare and noteworthy for Pissarro to place something in the dead center of the painting, it is not for other past artists who have taken that risk over and over again. Perhaps it is more of a risk when you are an Impressionist; who knows. I appreciate his work a little more and as I've mentioned before it is always nice to explore things further but I think for now that is all. I would rather try to catch Cezanne's apples falling off the table than wait for Pissarro to do the next gutsy thing.

Pissarro

This past weekend I visited the Pissarro show at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Impressionist painters seem to get a bad rap. Reproductions found on mouse pads, calendars, coasters. Gallery-goers who enjoy the spring time pastels, garden scenes and haystacks. The paintings are pretty. Easy on the eye and often have no underlying form or structure. Or so it seems. And so it has seemed to me the past few years. I mention haystacks because years ago, I attended a lecture about Monet's haystacks. In a way I forced myself to attend it, which is something I have done more and more in the past few years, however I no longer consider it forcing. I attended the Monet lecture because I wanted to understand Monet. I was familiar with his work but what was there behind those waterlilies? I did not take much away from the lecture and the details now escape me but I did leave with a certain respect and admiration for the haystack paintings. Monet painted the haystacks in different seasons and focused on the light (as an impressiont would) that hit them. I admire the paintings still and have seen one or two in the flesh since then and they were quite lovely.
Fast forward a few years to the Pissarro show. What was it about this painter and his work that attracted people? In my mind, he was a certain second rate impressionist but why? I walked through the show and tried to spend time on each painting. There is definitely something under those trees. There are shapes there and there is a bit of abstraction and there is depth. That were certain places in the paintings that feel like a whole other painting. A sort of abstract study of form and planes. I was impressed. One particular painting that stands out in my mind and one which I was immediately drawn to is a painting in which he uses a tree to mark the vertical center. On either side of the tree is a house. While the viewer stands and looks at the tree dead on, we see one house as only frontal-one plane. On the other house we see the side wall in addition to the front of the building. It was an amazing little play on space and distance. I will return to the show in the upcoming weeks. It often takes a few visits for me to process the work completely and I hope to leave with something else but until then, I can say that I am glad I saw the show and glad that I left with a new admiration.

Giacometti shadow

Seen at the Baltimore Museum of Art
3/11/07

Joan Snyder

And Always Searching for Beauty, oil, acrylic, papier mache, herbs on linen, 2001

There is no way to truly experience any painting via computer. The same might also be said for a book or magazine reproduction. Joan Snyder's work however must only be experienced in the flesh. Her paintings, full of natural ingredients such as sticks, mud, herbs and so on, come off the canvas. Literally. I've seen Joan Snyder's paintings in person before and they are beautiful. I saw them again this past Thursday at the Betty Cunningham Gallery in Chelsea and this time picked up a catalogue. I am very interested in how she goes about a painting. Her inspiration and her process. Her pieces have an otherworldliness feel to them and for me, I think that may be because of the elements she directly takes from nature. As I read the book, I hope to post more on her work, but if you have the chance I definitely recommend seeing her work in person.