The Watcher

The Watcher, ca.1914
Paul Henry (1876-1958)
oil on canvas
Private collection,
Image: Grey Art Gallery, NYU

I have a wonderful address book full of Irish paintings with a focus on people & places in Ireland. The art focuses on everyday Irish life. This is not one of the paintings in my book (I wasn't able to find any of my favorites) but it is by one of the artists represented and features a girl in a red skirt.

This painting was part of the exhibition, When Time Began to Rant and Rage: Figurative Painting from Twentieth-Century Ireland, at the Grey Art Gallery at NYU. During the late 19th c. a new emphasis began in focusing on creating a distinctly Irish identity in art. Previous to this time, Irish artists allied themselves with styles of England or the Continent. This painting and others of the time tied the figure and in turn the individual to the Irish land. The painter, Paul Henry, was one of a group who was even more focused on maintaining strong physical and emotional ties to the land, while many still retained an internationalist bent. One can easily catch both the emotion and physicality in the strong rich brushstrokes depicting the girl's skirt and crashing waves she looks out at. A feeling of contemplation by the simple gesture we make through a bit of paint which shows us her left hand resting upon her chin or lower face. The wind blows her skirt back yet she stands tall against it, the dark clouds representing an imminent storm.

List of Northern Irish artists

Lonely Ones

To mennesker. De ensomme (Two Human Beings. The Lonely Ones), 1899
Edvard Munch (1864-1944)
Woodcut
Image and owner: Museum of Modern Art

I think this is my first repetition of an artist (See Munch) I discovered this wonderful woodcut today. A bit moody, a bit sad, I still find the image beautiful. The mood of the image is perfectly equal to Munch's preoccupation with dark themes in direct opposition to Impressionism. Munch, through simple forms (most specifically in his prints), creates strong emotions and attachment to basic themes such as love, death and anxiety.

The woodcut lends itself to a "cutting out" of the figures, similar to a jigsaw puzzle. Each is solidly their own as if they could be plucked out of the landscape. This, along with the moody desolation of the landscape, and the very specific space between them enhances the stark contrast between the land and the water. The image remains seamless where we still see two human beings in one moment despite their separation. Munch reused elements of his works, like the woman in this print. We also see her in the lithograph, Young Girl on the Shore, 1896.

I had a recommendation for a theme week of art recently. If there is anything that you would like to learn more about and discover more of (a movement, period of time, type of media, subject matter...) please leave me a comment, or email at alisonlilith@gmail.com. Don't forget to take advantage of the tags at the bottom of each post to see previously posted art that is connected to what you are looking at.

Bath Beach

Bath Beach: a sketch (Bensonhurst), ca. 1887
William Merritt Chase
1961.5.24 Parrish Art Museum
Image courtesy of Parrish Art Museum (see more works by Chase by clicking here and on the artist's name)

A painting that caught my eye as I flipped through a volume of the catalogue raisonne of American Impressionist, William Merritt Chase. I may have mentioned this before, but my American Art history knowledge is not remotely up to par, and while I know of Chase, I don't think I could have connected him directly with his painting until now (time spent merging records ends up equaling time looking through books :). His work is quite pretty (one of the reasons I shied away from American art and Impressionism so long is that I didn't see much else in it than that) but I seem to be attracted more to the works that have stronger, richer color, I'm a sucker for green grass, though not necessarily bright (see Feeding the Pigeons, love it) color. The perspective of Bath Beach also draws my attention, while we cannot see any detail in the figures (his wife and daughter) they remain a focus of attention as the promenade path leads our eye to them, the grass and water frame them, the man on the bench is blurred the trees hover over them and the other significant object is in close proximity to them (the canon), keeping our attention centered.

Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain, 1732-1762
Nicola Salvi, completed by Guiseppe Panini and artists from the Bernini School.
marble
Rome, Italy
Public Art Around the World


I've focused on contemporary, public art this week and left out an entire world and history of public art. Much public art often passes us by, that statue in front of a state house, in a park, commemorations, another guy on a horse. I admit to breezing by much of this kind of public sculpture unless I am particularly interested in the subject. Public art has of course been a strong leader in the world of art for thousands of years.

Today, the Trevi Fountain. Rome, and much of Italy is oozing with public art. I should have my own photos of it but I cannot seem to find my photo album from my whirlwind Europe trip in college. I
Image: Travel plan idea blog
haven't gotten too much into the logistics of the process of getting art out there, but most work you will find like the Trevi Fountain was commissioned by a governmental body (very unlike the lengthy difficult time Christo and Jeanne-Claude had getting permission for their own project. This is also an excellent example of the iconic status a work of public art can attain.

An interesting incident involving the fountain in 2007 Turning the Trevi Fountain Red
Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trevi_Fountain_wide.jpg